>> specifically calling for the genocide of jews, does that constitute bullying harassment? >> if it is directed and severe, it is harassment. >> so the answer is yes. >> it is a context dependent decision. >> it is a context-dependent decision? that's your testimony? it is depending upon the consteks? that's not bullying or harassment? this is the easiest question to answer yes, miss magill. so is your testimony that you will not answer yes? >> if it is -- if the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment, yes. >> conduct meaning committing the act of genocide? the speech is not harassment? >> after facing widespread back lash after those remarks, magill attempted to clarify her remarks the following day. >> in that moment, i was focused on our university's longstanding policies aligned with the u.s. constitution which say that speech alone is not punishable. these policies need to be clarified and evaluated. >> but in the end, that was not enough and polo sandoval is live. magill is out. what's the latest? >> these were back to back resignations announced by the university. first we learned that the president of the university of pennsylvania is stepping down and then frankly moments, the university official who made the announcement saying that he, too, would be resigning. let's start with liz magill. she announced she would be stepping down from her position as upenn president for the university. she will remain as tenured faculty at the law school there and agreed to stay on board while they find an interim replacement. as we've reported, students, faculty, staff, donors which are certainly a critical piece of this, all losing confidence. at least, many of them losing confidence in magill after that disastrous testimony on tuesday in which she along with thees from at m.i.t. and harvard failed to explicitly say that calls for the genocide of jewish people would not immediately violate the university's code of conduct. and then moments after we learned of her resignation, scott bok saying that he, too, would be stepping down from his position as the chair of the board of trustees at the university in a statement, bok wrote, quote, former president liz magill last week made a very unfortunate misstep. following that, it became clear that her position was no longer tenable and she and i concurrently decided that it was time for her and i to leave. he defended her calling her a talented leader and as he put it, not the slightest bit antisemitism. and offering perspective and insight on the testimony from tuesday saying that she was not herself. bok wrote, she was overprepared, overlawyered, and provided a legalistic answer to a moral question, and that, bok said, was wrong. jim? >> all right. polo sandoval on the fallout at the university of pennsylvania. thank you very much. and university of pennsylvania student joe joins us now, the vice president of the jewish heritage program at the university. joe, thank you very much for being with us. what is your reaction to these resignations? is it going to go far enough to contain the damage? and make students feel more comfortable on campus? >> reporter: you know, the initial reaction from hearing these was ecstatic. we were really happy to satisfy accountability being taken against some major failures, or administration to protect jewish students on campus. when antisemitism first started cropping up this year around the time of the pal stinl rights festival, i was glad that they would handle it quickly and effectively. penn having an enormous history of a beautiful jewish community here. a very active jewish community here. i had a lot of confidence that it would be handled correctly. and then time and time again i found that it was magill and those that surround her with just dropping the ball and completely ignoring jewish students's asks for protection. we were scared. so we're really happy to see that accountability is finally being taken. after seeing the the mess-up that she had at congress, we just couldn't defend her anymore. that was the nail in the coffin. to hear the president of the university that i attend say that she can't flatly condemn calls for jewish genocide was disgusting and a little scary. at the end of the day, this is just the start. this is a huge win for jewish students all across the country. but the fight is not over because at the end of the day, just getting rid of a president who didn't do enough to protect jewish students doesn't ensure that jewish students will be protected moving forward. so that's the next step. >> what about this statement from the president of the board of trustees, the chair of the board of trustees, scott bok. he essentially said that it was an unfortunate statement that president magill made during her testimony up on capitol hill that led to her departure. it sounds like from what you're saying, that this has been building for some time. the university hasn't really gotten the message when it come to how thing are going on campus. >> yeah. i may not, the fact of the matter is that she was asked a very simple question which was is calling for a jewish genocide against the policies of the university of pennsylvania? she wasn't asked any harder question that actually involved more context. and her answer was that it was context dependent. that it could only be considered harassment if the words became actions. and i was really taken aback by that. the question was regarding jewish genocide and she said if it becomes action. so what i hear is, if call for jewish genocide turn into a jewish genocide on campus, then it would be considered harassment. i would hope that would at least be considered harassment, the fact that it would take that much to hear our president say that it would take that much to protect us, it was scary to hear. i don't think that it was just an unfortunate response. i think if she had given at left a more context on what type of context would be acceptable for a assistant or a faculty to make a call or the jewish genocide, i would be willing to listen to her and to understand what she was trying to say. even in her apology video she refused to explain what she meant. she never once said i'm sorry. in video. >> it seems like she made matters worse. >> she did 100% make matters worse. we gave her the benefit of the doubtle times. i especially was more willing to see how she would correct her mistakes from the very beginning with the palestine rights festival. i was hoping that she would turn things around and make, and make right the mistakes that she had made. time and time again i found that she dug herself a deeper hole. >> all right. thank you very much for your time. i hope thing get better on campus. being in college is a great time in your life. i hope things improve. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> in the meantime, former president donald trump says he'll be a dictator only on the first day if he's elected to the white house again. that's leading to comments from his critics. and later in the program interesting texas supreme court blocks at least for now a dallas woman's court approved exception to the state's abortion ban. we'll have that story as well. president biden is delivering perhaps his sharpest warning about his likely republican rival for the white house, telling donors at a fund-raiser in california last night that, 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 it is despicable, simply despicable, end quote. the harsh rebuke come days after the former president gave a chilling preview of what the first day of a second trump term would look like. >> under no circumstances, you're promising america tonight, would you never abuse power as retribution against anybody. >> except for day one. >> except for -- >> except for day one. >> meaning? >> i want to close the border and i want to drill, drill, drill. >> that's not -- >> let's drill down on this further. joe biden is not the only person familiar with donald trump to warn what a second presidency would mean for democracy. today we spoke with the niece of the former president. mary trump. take a listen. >> we need to take donald at his word to a certain point. we go ignore the second part. dictators don't stop being dictators. he has every intention of destroying american democracy. >> joining me now, myles taylor, chief of staff. he looks at a second trump presidency and what it would mean for the united states. and myles, i guess it's good to talk to you, as always. i guess i have to ask you, what did you think when you heard trump say he would only be a dictator on day one. what did you make of that? >> i thought here we go again. anyone who thinks trump would be a dictator for one day deserves to have donald trump be their president. we know it would be far worse than that. and i say here we go again. you know this. five years ago from within the administration, i was warning this guy was unstable. his cabinet thought he was uns unstable. the response was people thought it was wrong to criticize trump from within his administration. four years ago, i warned about the danger of re-electing him and people said it was the deep state. three years ago, i made very clear. if he lost, he would not give up powers. and it would end tragically. people said that was hyperbole. that he would concede power. he said he would run again and people said no. trump is gone. he's not coming back. here he is. he's back. this year i made very clear in a second term, he would operate department by department like an autocrat. i'm not saying this because i have a crystal ball. i don't have a crystal ball. the point is it is so obvious who this man is and how he will act in a second term and people can ignore it again but they will deserve what is coming to them. to the point about one day. if he wins office again, it will be 10,460 days that he's dictator. that's a four-year term. i have to add an asterisk to that. i genuinely believe he would not give up power. we have precedent for that. that's the time of situation we're talking about. and we don't have any historical precedent for it in the united states. >> and he's given as you window. his aides and allies have told us what he plans to do if he's reelected including mass deportations. another muslim ban. he's talked about that openly on the campaign trail. firings across the federal government. you were inside when he was president. and you saw some of what he was up to back then. is it a stretch to imagine those things actually happening? and that this is more than his usual rhetoric? >> yeah, jim, it's not a stretch at all. this is how stephen miller, likely to be one of trump's cabinet secretaries in a second term, described the second term to me. he specifically described day one to me. em, day one, when we win, will be a shock and awe blitz. you have to take him at his word. what does stephen miller mean by that? he means in a second go-around, there won't be years of delay and indecision about whether to moderate trump's position so he can win a second term. it will be throwing the kitchen sink at american democracy and doing all the things he's wanted to do by abusing federal power for partisan political process. that's what they'll try to do on day one. tell pieces that were immediate are the weapons of the national security community. if you look anywhere in history you see the most grievous abuses of power is when the army or domestic security forces are used against a leader's political enemies. and those are things that aren't just forecast of what trump could do. he's talked about weaponizing the spy community, to spy on his adversaries. he has talked about creating his own mercenary force within the community so he to go through a chain of command that he worries would disobey him. he's talked about using the department of homeland security to intimidate his opponents in democratic sanctuary cities and to make sure that blue states don't get aid and red states do when there's natural disasters. this is laid out very clear. we know what will happen. and i do worry. it will be likely the end of the american republic as we know it if he come back. something that again, five, six, seven years ago, if you asked me, it would have sounded crazy but it's the reality. >> these names are not surprising. you mentioned steve bannon. cash patel said this about retaliation. >> we will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media. yes, we'll come after the people in the media who lied about american citizens, who helps joe biden rig presidential elections. we'll come after you. >> miles, what did you think of that? >> i've been told to prepare for lawsuits. i think other people that current against trump, people in the media. they should take kash patel seriously. they will be in top positions. no, he won't put extreme people in those positions and even if he tries to, the constitution must offer advice and consent and confirm people. no. that's wrong. at the end of the trump administration, donald trump's homeland security, my former colleague chad wolf was determined about eight former judge to have been appointed illegally. do you know what the consequences were? there were no consequences for that. trump learned a lesson. he can put people in posts. he doesn't have to get them confirmed. even if congress objects, congress can't enforce its own laws. we should expect that. we should go into a second trump administration clear eyed that these people will have their eyes on the levers of power. >> i remember when i was doing my reporting during the trump reporting, one of the thing a senior white house official told me about trump and his discussions about cabinet officials and so. on he once said to some of his aides, how long can i keep acting secretaries around. because of these reasons. great to talk to you as always. we appreciate it. we'll do it again soon. we're short on time. thanks a lot. as always, we appreciate it. in the meantime, a dallas woman won her case for an exception to a texas abortion ban. why did the supreme court in that state then block it? one of her attorneys joins us next in the cnn newsroom. tonight the texas supreme court is blocking at least for now a dallas woman's court-approved exception to the abortion ban. the mother of two said her baby is suffering from a rare genetic condition that is almost always fatal and her own health is at ri risk. >> so kate cox is 20 weeks pregnant. her fetus has a fatal genetic condition. so she says that the complications of her pregnancy have been detrimental to her health and she is worried about her future reproductive health. and this is according to her doctors in which she's been discussing with them. so she decided to sue the state of texas to ask them to allow her to get a legal abortion in the state. a judge in texas granted that. and this is significant, extremely significant, when it come to the debate over abortion bans. not only that but the medical exemption in the state of texas. this is a state with one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. you see the exceptions there. so this ruling was very significant. but the attorney general in the state of texas did not agree with what the judge ruled so he asked the state supreme court to intervene. that's exactly what they did here. essentially, freezing the lower court's decision, saying that it is a temporary block. that at some point they will review the case but did not give a time line here and time is really critical. as we mentioned, she's 20 weeks pregnant. i want to read what her attorney said. her attorney is saying they are very hopeful but saying that this is why people shouldn't beg for health care from a court of law. on the other hand you have ken paxton saying that kate cox failed to demonstrate what life-threatening condition, or why she's at risk of death. you see part of what he wrote there, saying she fails to identify what life-threatening medical condition she has. again, she says that this has been extremely difficult and she's had to go to the emergency room. believes that if her child is to be born, it would only live for a few days. she is asking for essentially the state of texas to allow her to do this right now. the supreme court saying not yet. >> all right. thank you very much. let's discuss more now with former democratic state senator wendy davis of texas, and center for reproductive rights. they are representing kate cox in court. thank you both for being with us this evening. really appreciate it. let me start with you, mark. how is she handling this ruling? it feels as though the clock is ticking and there's not a lot of time to get resolution to this. how is she doing? >> she's obviously unpins and needles waiting to see what the texas supreme court is going to say. the order that came out last night is what is call an administrative stay. what that means is that the texas supreme court is saying it needs more time to consider the issues and it is going to give us an order. time is of the essence. she is 20 weeks pregnant. every day that goes by, the risks to her health increase. her doctors have told her in their best medical judgment, the treatment she needs to preserve her ability to have kids in the future for this pregnancy, it is an abortion. it will not end with a legalitiy child. so for the state of texas, to force her to continue to carry this pregnancy, there is no justification for it. >> what is your reaction to all of this? you've been on the front lines of this battle for some time. >> i have been on the front lines. i have to tell you. i also personally have experienced the very thing that they woman in texas is going through. also, a fatal fetal abnormality prior to the law being enacted that of course, banned abortions in our state. i was able to get the care that i need. even in spite of that, it was the most emotionally stressful, difficult experience i have ever been in in my life. i cannot imagine what she is going through with this added stress of not being able to get the care that she needs. having to fight through a court of law and against our attorney general to get that care. it is just extremely excruciating and it breaks may heart that she's going through it. i hope people see this is an example of the fact that these exceptions as they are written tend to be fairly meaningless because in a state like texas where the consequence to a doctor and a hospital who violate the law, if it is determined to be the case that they've done so is that they will lose their medical license and they can literally spend the rest of their life in prison. it's a terrible situation on the ground here. >> and mark, i have to ask you what miss cox has been going through in all this. it sounds as though, please correct me if i'm wrong here. in addition to talking with her doctor about the condition of her fetuses, how all of this might affect her own health, she has to go through state officials. she has to go through courts. she is asking the government for permission to get health care. is that it? >> that's basically right. it is ludicrous that she has had to file this lawsuit. but that's where we are in 2023 in the state of texas. where the state officials are threatening to send doctors to prison for the rest of their lives if they provide essential health care. but it's even worse than that. because not only did the doctors say they believe that she qualifies for an exception. not only did she go to court and file this lawsuit and get approval from a judge who says yes, i agree with you. you qualify for this exception. even after all that, ken paxton comes along and says, he disagrees with the doctors. apparently he can exercise, he can practice medicine better than kate cox's doctors can, even though to my knowledge he doesn't have a medical license. and he's saying, he's thumbing his nose at the judge's order saying, telling the hospitals if they move forward and allow miss cox to have the abortion that she needs, that he will come after the doctors. and notwithstanding what the judge has already decided. so this is just upside down world. i don't understand why we're going through this. this is a patient who needs health care just like many, many other patients all across the state of texas who don't have the ability and the capacity to file the lawsuit. so this has to end. >> to follow up, and i want to go to you next. so is she in a situation, your client, where she may have to carry this pregnancy to term? and deal with the fallout? deal with the medical consequences of it? that's what we're talking about? >> that's what ken paxton is trying to force her to do. she'll continue to examine all of her options if we don't get relief from the texas supreme court. >> can she go to another state? is that one of the remedies? >> right. she'll look at other options. she shouldn't have to go out of state. no one should have to go out of state to get health care. you should be able to have it with your doctor in your community at your local hospital. no one should be forced to even consider finding childcare and arranging for all the logistical things. you should be able to do this at home. >> and is there any relief that she could get at the federal level, or is the country in a situation now and is the state of texas in a situation now because of the dobbs decision, the overturning of roe v. wade, essentially, putting this in the hands of state lawmakers and governors and state courts and so on where there isn't much federal relief for people like miss cox? >> that's exactly right. of course, dobbs determines that this issue would be one that would be regulated specifically and strictly by the states. we haven't seen any federal action by congress to do otherwise. and as we exist, under the dobbs decision, we are going to continue to see people experience the devastating outcome of what it means to lose abortion access in states like texas. i want to take my hat off to the center for reproductive rights who not only are representing miss cox but also in another case before the texas supreme court, more than 20 women whose health has been endangered by virtue of the abortion ban here. who have sought relief. and i just want to express my gratitude. not only to the center but for every one of these individuals who is pushing back against this through a court of law. it is our only opportunity to get any correction right now until our voters have a chance, of course, to express themselves at the ballot box. and to let people know who our elected officials in texas, that we are not going to accept this as our new normal, and as the status quo. >> all right. please keep us posted on how kate is doing and wendy, thank you for your time. we appreciate both of you joining us tonight. we'll be right back. the state department is requesting the medical sale of thousands of munitions to israel. it would bypass the 20-day congressional review. this comes as the u.s. vetoed a united nations security council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in gaza as prime minister benjamin netanyahu praised that move while mahmoud abbas condemned it calling it unethical. there have been heavy clashes between the israeli military and hamas in multiple parts of gaza, including in the south, and cnn's alex marquardt has the latest. >> reporter: there was intense fighting and airstrikes reported all over the gaza strip. fierce clashes between hamas militants and israeli soldiers in northern gaza which israel is still trying to take full control of. in the central part of gaza, we saw airstrikes hitting a building that residents say had some 150 people inside including many who had fled from the fighting in the northern part of the strip. there were chaotic scenes as the bodies of the dead and wounded were taken to a local hospital in that area. but. of the fighting, the most intense fighting over the past few days has been around the biggest city, chan younis. that's where it is believed many may be. they are trying to encircle the city. they say they are breaking through the defensive lines. that they are fighting house to house, tunnel to tunnel. and tonight the idf issued what they called an urgent appeal for residents and civilians of central khan to evacuate. they say shelters have been established. the idea posted a map. it is unclear to what extent the palestinians have internet connectivity and can get online to see this map. it is unclear whether they know to check israeli channels or whether they can understand this very complicated map. we don't know what shelters are in that area that israel is telling these residents to evacuate to. at the same time, thousands of people have gone even farther south toward the city of rafa. people are sleeping in the streets. there is no fuel. there is little food, little water. tell red crescent said that around 100 trucks with aid did cross into gaza from egypt today but that is still well below the average number of trucks crossing into gaza during the fragile seven-day pause. now officials say that some 85% of the gazan population is now displaced while the hamas-controlled ministry of health says more than 17,000 palestinians have been killed in gaza since october 7th. jim? >> our thanks to alex marquardt. in the meantime, dramatic images coming in from the severe storm battering the mississippi river valley. take a look at that, barreling across tennessee. we'll have an update when we come back. there. this is in northwest tennessee. a massive tornado hitting the state. officials there urging drivers to stay off the roads for that reason right there. that tornado passing right in front of a storm chaser. at least three people have been injured as a result of these tornadoes. that's just the early estimate. so far this tornado is part of a massive storm system traveling through eastern states as it moves across the country. i mean, that paints a picture for us right there. my goodness. to see a tornado cross a roadway like that with just total destruction. just absolutely remarkable, what we just saw there. >> and what has been incredible about this is that we're seeing video like that. not just out of clarksville. we are waiting in the morning, now that it's dark out. by the morning we'll see what will probably be catastrophic damage out of some of the suburbs of nashville, just north of nashville. so far we have about 15 tornado reports. that means just sightings. the number will go up and we'll have to have a clearer picture of what is actually confirmed and what the strength might have been. wind and hail, plenty of those reports as well. i put this in here because i want to explain something. parts of the nashville suburbs had a tornado emergency a. tornado warning we're used to. that's when we see the tornado. it is spotted in person or on the radar. the emergency is that the tornado is violent. it uses words like catastrophic. so really, just looking at catastrophic images by tomorrow morning of some of the nashville suburbs. we're hoping not. the data is showing that in some of the early reports on social media, showing that that damage is pretty bad already. so there's the cluster of some of the tornado reports. northern tennessee, southern kentucky. the radar right now showing that we still have this line of showers and storms rolling through. you you have a tornado warning, that pink box. that continuing for parts of northern alabama there. so again, we'll continue with this threat. we do have that watch in effect still until about 11:00 this evening. you can see it's been expanded. parts of kentucky and middle tennessee, alabama, and then getting into mississippi. this tornado watch continuing through 11:00 this evening for some of these communities. as we continue with this tornado threat, again, some of the video we've been seeing has just been incredible of some of these tornadoes. here's what happens the next couple of hours -- we'll continue to find this threat pushing east on the overnight. you see the storm still firing up and billowing toward eastern tennessee. things start to relax in intensity as it gets into north carolina. we'll have showers and storms. some of that rain could be heavy. this is why the storm system has been so potent. it's got cold air parked behind it. and that's going to punch some of the snow risk with it for parts of interior new england. this is a threat that we're watching unfold right now, that enhanced risk. here's the threat tomorrow. you can see the difference through the intensity dies down, not quite the same tornado threat for some of those states like the carolinas, into georgia. still on the lookout for some damaging winds and powerful tornadoes, as well. the threat not totally over. we'll be watching that tomorrow. the flooding risk from the same system in the northeast looking at two to four inches of rain from maine down into d.c. some flooding there as the storm, again, continuing to pack a punch. some of these rain totals up to two to four inches up the east coast, again could pack six to eight inches of snow there. so something that we'll have to watch is multihazard with the snow, the cold, the rain, with the flooding. as you're seeing here, some of the tornado images that we've been seeing this evening are just -- as we get into nighttime here, it's going to be difficult for people to kind of really know what some of that damage is until tomorrow morning. that's why they're urging residents, they urge residents at night to heed the warnings and stay home. at night these tornadoes are even more dangerous because you can't see. it's hard to get alerts in the middle of the night. and hopefully we won't have too much to worry about going into tomorrow. you know, we'll have to keep checking on those reports, jim. >> yeah. stay home. play it safe. you don't want to be the guy that got the storm chaser video with the tornado going right across the street in front of him. i know storm chasers want to get the best shot, but that's cutting it very very close. elisa raffa, a report, warning for folks in the south. big storm system might be coming your way. be careful, play it safe. stay home if you don't need to go out. thank you so much. we'll continue to monitor all of this breaking news. we'll be right back. you're probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for your business. but what if we told you it's possible that comcast business mobile can save you up to 75% a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers? did we peak your interest? you can get two unlimited lines for just $30 each a month. there are no term contracts or line activation fees. and you can bring your own device. oh, and all on the most reliable 5g mobile network nationwide. wireless that works for you. it's not just possible, it's happening. when it comes to the u.s. economy, the numbers may be better than you think. unemployment fell and jobs rose in the latest monthly jobs report. inflation is low compared to the rest of the world. and prices are finally calming down at gas stations and grocery stores. let's discuss with john hillsonwrath, author of "the trail blazing economist who navigated an era of upheaval." might be upheaval between now and -- >> a lot of upheaval for the treasury secretary. >> no question about it. that dovetails to what i want to talk about. almost seems like things are calming down on the economic front to some extent. we had this jobs report on sfri. it wasn't too hot -- friday. it wasn't too hot, wasn't too cold. the unemployment rate at a decent number if you're a president running for re-election. what's your sense? >> you would think this would be great news for a president running for re-election. as you mentioned in the preview, we have price increases that people are feeling. but the job market is strong, and you -- you know, it's been slowing down, and i was a little worried the unemployment rate was going to keep going up, and we saw this down tick in the last report. so it was good news. it's what -- everyone's concerned about interest rates, when is the fed going to stop raising interest rates. the fact that the job market is slowing in a perverse way is good news because it gives the fed some confidence that these inflation numbers are going to start to son. >> couple of things -- soften. >> couple of things, you mentioned the interest rates. that's had people freaked out, the housing industry, for example. it's extremely difficult to buy a house when the interest rates rise as federal gast as they ha. this may help. >> it's especially hard for first-time home buyers. if you own a house, you at least have equity that you could flip into another one. if you're trying to get into the market for the first time and a mortgage rate has gone up to 7% and prices have risen, it's a difficult time. it's why people are watching interest rates so carefully. on wall street, obviously they're also watching interest rates really carefully. what we've seen is some expectation that maybe inflation has slowed down enough that the fed might start cutting interest rates next year. so we're watching that really closely. >> that's a big expectation that rates actually might get cut. inflation, that i think is where if the biden folks are wondering where they're running into trouble, it's with inflation. >> everything is inflation for the biden administration and for households. the most important thing that could happen for this economy right now is for inflation to continue to slow. because then people start feeling their pocketbooks, their paychecks going further than they'd been going the last few years. we were just talking about the price of a meal at a chick-fil-a. >> we were talking that during the break. we're out of time. but yeah, when you go into a fast food place and the price is 30, 40%, 50% -- >> a package of hamburger meat is $15 now. we're seeing that. we need more relief on that. >> we'll bring you back. thank you so much. in the meantime, thank you so much for joining me