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city courtroom tomorrow, as former president donald trump is expected to retake the witness stand in the high-stakes trial that threatens his business empire. new york attorney general letitia james is suing trump for $250 million and seeking to bar him from doing business in the state. he's accused of fraudulently inflating the value of his properties. trump's attorney told reporters that she tried to dissuade the former president from testifying again while he is under a gag order, but she claims trump insists on testifying. cnn's zachary cohen joining us now. zach, set the stage for what we might expect tomorrow. >> reporter: yeah, fred. trump's own lawyer suggesting we could hear more of the same from the former president who has gone out of his way to attack the judge, the attorney general, and the case itself in new york surrounding his business and his business dealings. last time he took the stand, we also heard trump defend his properties and his brand, suggesting for example that his mar-a-lago resort in florida was worth a billion dollars but it's

important to remember the judge in this cay has also ruled that trump and his codefendants including his kids are liable in this case, so it raises the question, why is trump so adamant about taking the stand again in this case, despite the risks and especially the risk of being cross-examined by the attorney general again. take a listen to how trump's lawyer explained his reasoning. >> he still wants to take the stand even though my advice is at this point, you should never take a stand with a gag order. he's so firmly against what is happening in this court and so firmly for the old america that we know, not this america, that he will take the stand on monday. he will open himself up to whatever they want because he's not afraid. people that are afraid cower. president trump doesn't cower. we'll be back on monday. >> reporter: so of course, this case is very personal for trump. it's in the state of new york, it deals with his family business. it also comes as he's ramping up his campaign to be the next president of the united states. the image of a good businessman, of also the justice system is out to get him is a central part

of his campaign message. so tomorrow's hearing could provide a window into how we see trump handle his criminal cases and criminal trials in the next year or so as he also runs to be the next president of the united states. >> all right, lots to watch. zach cohen, thanks so much. so all the campaign trail, trump is now trying to downplay and dismiss warnings that his victory in 2024, potential victory in 2024, would represent a threat to democracy. last week, trump claimed he would only be a dictator on day one of his presidency if re-elected. he has also openly talked about how he would weaponize government to exact retribution against his enemies if re-elected. alena trene joins us now. trump spoke about these warnings last night. what more is he saying? >> yeah, fred, donald trump was speaking to an event hosted by the new york young republican club in new york, and he really

doubled down on some of the remarks he made earlier this week in a town hall with fox news, where he said that he would be a dictator for one day if he reclaimed the white house in order to rebuild or build a wall, excuse me, and to drill, drill, drill. but as you mentioned, he also tried to undercut the narrative being pushed by some of his critics that if he were to win election, he would be a threat to democracy. take a listen. >> in the past few weeks the radical left democrats and their fake news allies have unveiled their newest hoax that donald j. trump and the republican party are a threat to democracy. can you believe it? it's a hoax, we call it now the threat to democracy hoax. that's what it is. >> now, fred, he also repeated claims last night that he thinks that joe biden is actually the, quote, real threat to democracy, while speaking to that

supportive crowd. i do want to point out a couple quick things here. one is there is a growing concern among republicans and also within the inner circle that donald trump keeps that his continuing ramped up rhetoric on this talking about democracy and dictatorship and authoritarianism isn't playing well beyond his loyal base. this could hurt him if we were to potentially win the nomination and advance to a general election, this wouldn't play well with those voters. but it's also creating an opening, him continuing to talk about this, for democrats and joe biden. what they really want to do is not only try to paint the 2024 election as a general election rematch between trump and joe biden, but they also want to make it a choice between authoritarianism and democracy, so him continuing to talk about this is really creating an opening for democrats. >> all right, point made. thank you so much. joining me right now to talk about trump's comments and more

is alexizen stat, a national political reporter for politico. also with me is max cohen, a congressional reporter for punch bowl news. good to see both of you. all right, alex, you first. so trump is trying to flip these warnings about him being a threat to democracy by casting biden as the real danger. that may work with his base, but you heard alyna say this message might not work with independents and moderate republicans who have said already that he's a threat to democracy and that's why many no longer are backing trump. so would you be in agreement with what alena was saying, some folks think this is an opening now for biden? >> yeah, so look, here's the issue that trump faces here, which is that if you're joe biden, your poll numbers aren't looking great right now. you're losing to trump in a lot of states. so if you're biden, what do you have to do? you have to disqualify donald trump. you have to disqualify your opponent, raise his negatives.

and so you're going to see biden do in the months to come, he's going to paint trump as an extremist. you're already seeing his campaign do this. biden has been labeling republicans as maga extremists. to the biden campaign, they're looking for opening. they're going to look for ways to paint trump as way too far to the right for the general electorate. >> and max, i mean, even some of trump's biggest supporters are warning him to kind of tone it down. tone down the retribution rhetoric, take a listen to kevin mccarthy, the former house speaker, right now. all right, do we have that sound bite of the former house speaker? >> what president trump needs to do in this campaign, it needs to be about rebuilding. restoring, renewing america. it can't be about revenge. >> he's talking about retribution day in, day out. >> he needs to stop that. he needs to stop that.

>> max, the question is, is trump listening? is he listening to former house speaker or anybody about that? >> yeah, even kevin mccarthy later on in that interview mentioned, you know, he was deposed from his own role as house speaker so maybe he's not in the best position to give advice to the former president. it's a good point. you have many of trump's allies on the hill and even folks who want to see republicans succeed saying this election needs to be about the future, not the past. and i think the big warning sign for many republicans was the 2022 midterms. when dald trump endorsed candidates struggled, when the message about election lies did not resonate in key battleground states. there's a lot of concern among the gop that if this is a repeat of 2022, and if we're still talking about the 2020 election, that's just going to help joe biden say look, trump is too extreme and not focused on the real issues that americans care about. >> alex, to pick up more on what you were saying.

biden has already in fact used trump's words against him on the campaign trail, telling donors at a fund-raiser in california this weekend, quote, the greatest threat trump poses is to our democracy. the president went on to slam trump's role in the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol, saying, quote, it's despicable, simply despicable. so max, is this the type of messaging from biden in front of the cameras and before the crowds that you believe we're going to see more of? >> i think so. i think you always hear biden say do not compare me to the almighty. compare me to the alternative, namely donald trump. i think that's biden's best bet right now. voters largely are not happy with the economy, they don't like the direction the country is going. if biden can't run on his own record, he has to run on the fear that donald trump will do the extreme things donald trump is saying he'll do. >> alex, how do you see it?

>> yeah, i totally agree with max. look, i mean, in 2012, when barack obama was running for re-election, he turned the election into a referendum between him and mitt romney. you had a similar situation with obama where his numbers weren't so great at certain points during that election year. so when you're an incumbent whose numbers aren't great, what you try to do is try to turn the election into a choice and not a referendum on yourself. so that's what you're seeing biden starting to do here, what he's attempting to do here. >> all right, we'll leave it there for now. alex and max, thanks to both of you gentlemen. all right, and this breaking news right now into cnn. the white house says ukrainian president zelenskyy will visit president biden in washington on tuesday, and it comes as aid talks with congress have stalled. senior white house reporter

kevin liptack joining us with more on this. >> reporter: the white house just announcing this in the last couple moments. the press secretary saying that president biden in this meeting on tuesday would underscore the united states' unshakable commitment to supporting the people of ukraine, as they defend themselves against russia's brutal invasion. he would also talk about in this meeting with zelenskyy the urgent needs of the ukrainians on the battlefield now and the vital importance as she puts it of the united states' continued support at this critical moment. and it is a critical moment. as lawmakers debate this $60 billion that president biden has asked for additional assistance for ukraine, and we have heard over the course of today from lawmakers who are indicating that those talks are not necessarily breaking through, that they do not necessarily have an agreement that would tie this ukraine funding to new rules for the border, which is what republicans have hoped for, and certainly the hope by

inviting president zelenskyy to washington in this sort of dramatic show of commitment that that will unlock some of these talks in some ways. this will be zelenskyy's third visit to washington since this war broke out, and that each moment at each of these visits his aim has really been to try to convince and skeptics in washington that american assistance is still necessary for the ukrainians as they work to deter russia's aggression, and i think the challenge for zelenskyy in these talks will be trying to show that there is sort of a path forward for ukraine on the ground there as they remain bogged down in this counteroffensive that hasn't necessarily yielded much ground when it comes to the battle lines in ukraine. so zelenskyy certainly a dr dramatic visit. my question and we don't know the answer yet, is whether he'll be meets with republicans on capitol hill, some of whom have remained very skeptical about providing additional assistance for ukraine. so certainly, this will be an

important moment as president biden tries to secure those billions of dollars in new assistance. >> potentially pivotal. all right, kevin, thanks so much. still to come, crews are searching for survivors after tornadoes leave at least six dead in tennessee. we're live outside nashville next. and later, the u.s. secretary of state warning that israel needs to do more to protect civilians that provide humanitarian aid as operations in southern gaza continue.

the east coast is now experiencing the same storm system that spawned deadly tornadoes in tennessee. six people were killed, and countless buildings are

pulverized or in pieces. this traffic camera caught what is believed to be a tornado as it mowed down power stations in the nashville area. the tennessee emergency management says early reports indicate that 13 tornadoes hit the state. >> oh, [ bleep ]. oh, my god. >> the video shows us a tornado in madison just north of nashville. three people were killed there. reportedly, a toddler was among the victims. emergency officials say the other three tornado victims were in clarksville. again, including a child. survivors describe the power of the twister there. >> walls bursted, the windows bursted. everything just like exploded. that's what it felt like. it felt like everything exploded. a lot of pressure built up and just popped. >> cnn's rafael romo is in

madison, tennessee. what are you seeing there? how are people doing? >> reporter: fred, people are very sad, as you can imagine. and i wanted to show you how powerful the tornado that hit this area was, how devastating the force of the winds was. this is what remains of a utility pole. it snapped like a match stick, and it's not the only one we have seen. it's a similar thing that has happened to many trees in the area. that's what remains of the utility pole, and many trees have been uprooted and fallen on top of houses. so there's great devastation here, and it is a very, very sad day for tennessee. you mentioned before, in this community here in the madison neighborhood, in the north side of nashville, three people died, including a child. there were an additional three people who died about 70 miles northwest of here in clarksville, including a minor.

and that's the reason why the governor here has declared a state of emergency. throughout the day, we have been talking to people who are coming back, trying to recover whatever they can, but many say that they just feel fortunate to be alive today. >> some of your most precious possessions. >> my most precious possessions are my kids. you know, everything else is repla replaceable. lives and my kids are not. >> how are you doing today, ma'am? >> i have good times and bad times. i went over to check. i have a elderly parents, and that's where i have been. i went to check on them and make sure everything is good over there. >> reporter: fred, the cleanup effort is only beginning. another challenge authorities are facing is many people remain without power. the local power utility says 26,000 customers remain without the service, and this is after

80,000 were put back on service this morning, fred. back to you. >> all right, rafael romo, terrible scene there. thank you so much. we'll check back with you. the israeli military says they have struck more than 250 targets across gaza in the last 24 hours. the very latest on the fighting and the growing humanitarian crisis when we come back.

. battle under way today in southern gaza. the israeli military is warning khan younis civilians to evacuate to facilities on the coast. new strikes there today sending thick black smoke into the area. israel defense forces say they have truck more than 250 targets across gaza in the last 24 hours. the official palestinian news agency reports dozens of civilians were killed as a refugee camp during a series of

israeli air raids. cnn's alex marquardt is tracking the latest developments from tel aviv. what more are you learning? >> reporter: well, that fighting in the north that you mentioned around the refugee camp indicates israel does not have full control of the north. they're still facing fierce fighting with hamas militants around what they're calling strongholds of persistent resistance in the neighborhood as well as around jabalya where as you mentioned 45 civilians are believed to have been killed in an air strike on a house, according to the palestinian wafa news agency. so much of the israeli focus has been on the southern city of khan younis where they say they believe that a number of top hamas leaders may be. again, palestinian news agency saying that dozens of people were killed, civilians killed in homes targeted in the northern part of khan younis as well as the eastern part. we did see on saturday night an alert from the idf calling on

civilians and residents in central khan younis to leave, to evacuate. they specified five specific areas to leave and to go towards an open area where israel says there have established shelters. it is unclear given the lack of communication in the gaza strip how many civilian residents if any are able to get that message, and it's also unclear what established shelters there actually are in that southwestern pocket that israel was talking about, fred. >> and the humanitarian crisis in gaza is worsening by the day, so how are gaza civilians holding up? what are they doing? >> not well at all. the same situation is getting increasingly dire by the hour. top humanitarian agencies including the u.n. and many others really sounding the alarm and using all kinds of superlatives to describe how truly awful the situation has

become. we heard the u.n. secretary-general earlier today talking about how there is a severe risk of collapse in gazan society. he also talked about the situation fast deteriorating into catastrophe. there is also some criticism by secretary of state antony blinken who was on cnn earlier today, about the care with which, the lack of care that israel is taking when it comes to the safety of civilians. blinken has been describing it, and he did again today, about the gap between israel's intent to protect civilians and what exactly is playing out on the ground. take a listen. >> i think the intent is there. but the results are not always manifesting themselves. we see that both in terms of civilian protection and humanitarian assistance. even as israel has taken additional steps to designate safe areas in the south, to focus on neighborhoods, not entire cities in terms of evacuating them, whaument we're

not seeing sufficiently is a couple of things. >> and fred, blinken said there needs to be a lot more clarity about times, places, routes for aid, and also needs to be clarity on that messaging that we have been talking about so much, to make sure that civilians are getting the messages about where is safe, where they can go, and when they can return home. fred. >> all right, alex marquardt, thanks so much. back in this country, the university of pennsylvania president steps down. what next for the university and its students? i'll talk to a student at penn next.

at harvard university today, two different boards are meeting as the school's president becomes the latest ivy league leader to come under fire

following her testimony on capitol hill to congress. i would like to bringen cnn reporter matt egan. what are you learning about these meetings? >> reporter: well, fredricka, we know that harvard and its president are under enormous pressure following that disastrous hearing this past tuesday before congress. and we have learned that harvard's governing boards are meeting on campus today. that's according to a person close to the boards. we're talking specifically about the harvard corporation and the board of overseers. those are the two entities that govern the university. now, this source stresses to cnn that this is not an emergency meeting. these meetings had been scheduled for some time. now, we don't know if calls for the resignation of claudine gay are the focus of these meetings. of course, that's got to be the elephant in the room. within minutes of last night's breaking news that the president of the university of

pennsylvania and the chair of the board of trustees had stepped down, minutes later, we heard from republican congresswoman elise stefanik, and she put out on social media, she said one down, two to go. and she directly criticized claudine gay again over the testimony before congress. now, claudine gay has tried to do some damage control the day after the hearing. she put out a statement on social media trying to clarify her message. the uproar, though, continued. and then she did give an interview with the harvard crimson, the school paper, where she outright apologized for how the hearing went and how her statements were construed. we did though still hear pressure on harvard, a bipartisan group of more than 70 lawmakers, they have put out a statement on friday calling for the presidents of penn, m.i.t., and harvard to step down. so fredricka, there's still a lot of pressure here on these

university presidents, and we're going to be following the latest to see what comes out of these meeting. >> all right, matt egan, let us know when you know. thanks so much. all right, all of this while penn must figure out how to move on following the resignation of its president, liz magill yesterday. jeyjewish and muslim students report feeling increasingly unsafe following the october 7th hamas attacks. here to discuss is a jewish student leader and president of the interfaith club at penn. glad you could be with us. what's your reaction now to the resignation of your university president, liz magill? >> thank you for having me. it's kind of like finally we're here. we're able to move on somewhere that we can improve. i'm really curious and hopeful in the changes that can happen in our school administration. and exactly what you said, jewish students, muslim

students, alike are feeling really scared on campus. we're here to learn. we're not here to fight over our identities. we're really at school to learn and to not feel safe on campus is really concerning. >> and all that's been going on with your campus, and in the israel/hamas conflict, all of this hits close to home for you. i understand you studied in jerusalem, you made close friends, both jewish and muslim, and now some of those friends are either fighting in the israel defense forces or in the case of your friend omar, actually being held hostage by hamas. he wore a beard in an image you saw. now you have been growing your beard for him in solidarity. so how are you managing all of this plus the stresses of what it is to be a college junior? >> i guess in response to that, i don't even know how i'm managing, if i'm even managing to do so.

exactly what you said, i spent a gap year studying with a mixed american and israeli program in which we really prioritized dialogue within the jewish community as well as outside of it in order to see how we can improve as a people, as a religious people. and half my friends, about 30 of those kids, are now fighting in the army. and as much as i'm here and trying to remove byself from the politics there, i fear for their lives. i'm checking in with them, texting them constantly. for them to respond to me and say oh, my god, penn is in the news. how are you feeling? are you okay? it's an interesting dynamic going on there. especially with my friend omer. he was protecting villages when he was taken and we have not heard anything about him in nearly two months. though it's not the best look on my face, i can agree to that, i stand there kind of trying think of him. this conflict hits so close and it's so difficult -- i should be studying for my math final at

this point if i'm being honest. >> i know you continue to pray and worry about your friend. so i wonder if you can -- hearts go out to you and everyone involved, related to omer. is there a way to kind of describe the feeling on campus? you know, regarding anti-semitism and islamophobia. you mentioned at the top of the interview it's a shame that so many of you students are feeling scared. but talk to me about what the feeling on campus is, you know, that in light of the criticism about how your university president answered questions about campus policy and threatening language as it relates to genocide. which all led to her resignation ultimately. >> yeah. so on campus, though i can only speak of the people i interact with, the things i'm seeing, everyone is feeling a little at unease. just because there have been divisions that have been kind of spread throughout the communities on campus.

through the interfaith club, we have really been working with the jewish community and the muslim communities in order to try to heal these bonds that we're afraid the administration has kind of created these tensions so we're here to try to bring these groups back together because people feel afraid and they feel hurt. and reasonably so. it's really just an awful place to kind of have to be to learn right now when there's so many distractions going on outside the classroom. so students all alike, though i can't speak for everyone, are just feeling really worried about what the future holds. >> elan, thanks for being with us. we wish you the best. we wish the best for your entire student body at the university of pennsylvania and of course, continue to hold out hope and pray for your friend, omer. thanks so much. we'll be right back.

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all right, this breaking news now this afternoon, former president donald trump says he will not testify in court in new york tomorrow after all. cnn's zach cohen joining us with the very latest. why the change of heart? >> reporter: quite a reversal from former president donald trump, after his lawyers said had he was adamant he was testifying for a second time in this new york civil trial, now coming out with a statement through social saying i thought better of it. he's casting this case as still election interference. a walkback by donald trump whose lawyer did say a couple days ago that he was not going to back down. he was not going to capitulate

to what prosecutors and the judge in this case wanted. it seems now he or his lawyers have thought better of it and trump no longer scheduled to appear tomorrow in this new york civil case. >> okay. very interesting. all right, zach cohen, thank you so much. can't wait to find out the why behind all of that. european lawmakers are taking a huge step forward with historic legislation that will regulate the use of artificial intelligence. it sets out to promote the use of ai, but it will also ban all practices considering to be a threat to people's safety, livelihood, and rights. i want to bring in gary marcus to talk about all of this. he's a professor emeritus at nyu and also the host of humans versus machines podcast. and author of the book, rebooting ai. okay, good to see you, professor. will these new regulations potentially change how we all

use ai? particularly in europe or maybe even beyond? >> well, the first change will be in europe. we in north america are not directly affected. we should talk about that. but yeah, it's going to have a profound effect in the eu. we have gone from a regime where there's essentially no regulation on ai whatsoever, unlike food, medicine, airplanes, cars and so forth, to a regime where there really is some regulation. that's important because current ai is not very reryable. it's fun to play with, but it's not necessarily safe. the eu has done something really momentous and fundamentally important to have regulation around ai. i'm sure it's not perfect but it's a real line in the sand that people care. i hope that will have an affect in the united states soon. >> how influential might it be? because we are talking about a completely different enterprise of doing business in the u.s.,

but do you see that what the eu is doing could potentially influence how america embraces or restricts ai? >> i think it will have both a direct and indirect effect. the direct effect is american companies want to do business in the eu, so they have to deal with those regulations. those regulations for example require some amount of transparency if companies are going to do that in the eu, they might as well do it in the u.s. in the way that the gdpr around data has some some indirect effect on the u.s., there will be that, and there will be pressure on the united states. the executive office passed a really important or put forward a really important executive order that is the u.s.'s attempt to regulate ai. because the executive office does not have the ability to write new laws it's pretty constrained in what it can do. this will put pressure on the senate in the united states to try to keep up with the eu and

not look silly by not having anything with enough substance. >> sounds pretty quick that they would put this, you know, into place already. you actually spoke to the u.s. senate subcommittee on ai oversight. do you believe that this country is moving a little too slow to really get ahead of what could potentially be a big problem? there may be some real great solutions that come with ai, but there's also a lot of trepidation. and worry. >> i think a lot is in chuck schumer's lap right now. i was there as you say, testifying in front of the senate in may. and hawley and blumenthal but forward a bill or a framework i guess they call it that i think is pretty good. but right now, it's sitting on schumer's desk, and schumer has to decide ultimately what legislation is put forward. so there are some good

proposals. amy klobuchar and john thune, senators, have also put together something interesting. there's an interesting bill from ted lieu. a lot of legislation around, but really what we need is for the senate and for the speaker of the senate to come forward with something concrete that actually has substance, and that's up t sh chuck schumer mostly at this point. >> gary marcus, thanks so much. we'l'll be rightht back.

billie jean king is an icon, a champion, and a trail blazer. cnn anchor and chief political correspondent dana bash sat down

with the tennis legend to learn about her career, the twists and turns of her personal life, and her fight for equality. a fight highlighted by competing against bobby rigs in the so-called battle of the sexes. >> here comes billie jean king. >> a massive television audience. 90 million people worldwide watched as she made a dramatic entrance. >> i didn't see the match until 25 years after the match. i wish i had seen it because it was so clear in 1973 where we're at, howard cosell talked about only my looks. >> very attractive young lady, and sometimes you get the feeling that if she ever let her hair grow down to her shoulders and took her glasses off, you would have somebody vying for a hollywood screen test. >> only my looks. they talked about bobby, what he had done, all his

accomplishments, right? >> dana bash joining us right now. yes, so it's a good thing, right, i guess, that she didn't see that right away. >> how horrifying is that? >> horrible. >> you know, and it obviously is a reminder as she said of not only the times but why she was so eager to play this match, fred. and obviously, made sure that she won. she talked about with me when we spent time together, about the process that she went through to prepare, that not just the physical preparation and training but also the psychological training. she watched the way that he played. she understood that he was older, in his 50s. she was 29. and she also understood how critical it was for not just women in tennis but for women outside of athletics and women

around the world. it was a societal moment that really did change things. and made it clear that women should be treated like men and that was just one, of course, of her many accomplishments that all had to do with the space of equality but specifically equal pay, equal prize money in tennis. >> yeah, i mean, as a devoted champion, she studied her opponent for that whole bobby riggs matchoff, and she really did kind of keep it together while he had the allowance of kind of clowning around and, you know, really being insulting throughout the entire match. but that's an aside. i wonder for her, you know, at what point did she kind of cement her mission of fighting for equality? >> she was a little girl, and it really surprised me because that was one of the first questions i wanted to ask, and in the

series, we really try to get a sense of what it's like to be a person who we see in sound bites or we see kind of with the klieg lights in front of them. and her answer was, she was like the second time she said she picked up a tennis racket, she was on the public courts in long beach, california, and she was at an area where she looked around and she noticed that everybody was white, the clothes were white, the shoes were white, and she thought, it was mostly men, and she thought this is just not right. she said add that moment i realized i was going to get good at tennis and fight for equality. she said those two goals were always hand in hand. she didn't say i'm going to be a tennis champion, and then once she got to that point, oh, i'm going to fight for equal pay. she said from an early age, those were twin goals, and i can't even imagine having that kind of sense of self an