it is the top of the hour. i'm boris sanchez along side jessica dean in washington, d.c. tracking an israelied a vance inside gaza right now and the rush to get thousands of civilians out of gaza through egypt while another high-stakes visit to israel conducted by u.s. secretary of state antony blinken. weighing all factors trying to avert a wider war in the region. the secretary of state departed last hour. before leaving he reiterated israel's right to defend itself and addressed the immense civilian suffering unleashed inside gaza. listen. >> we will be talking about concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimize harm to men, women and children in gaza, and this is something that the united states is committed to. i'm not getting into the details here but it's very much on the agenda. when i see a palestinian child, a boy, a girl, pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building, that hits me in the gut as much as seeing a child in israel or anywhere else. >> notably, secretary blinken plans to discuss long-term options to achieve what he calls a sustainable peace. >> focused on the day of and we also need to be focused on the day after. so in conversations that we'll be having through the course of this weekend, i expect you'll see a focus there and particularly how we can get over time to two states for two peoples, which in our judgment remains the best guarantor and only the only of a secure jewish democratic israel and palestinians with the state that they're entiltled to. >> on the ground with cnn's melissa bell in cairo and jeremy diamond in israel a few miles from the gaza border. melissa, start with you. amassed, a massive crossing from egypt waiting to leave gaza including hundreds of american families. talk to us where things stand right now. >> reporter: well, we know, boris, a few dozen americans have now made their way through several hundred foreign and jewish nationals altogether the last couple of days and expect that could tont as chaotic as it is and a difficulty getting people to the crossing in time, warning them their list, name is on the list that particular day, since these lists are published every day with 200 names of those able to evacuate that day. if what we've seen, boris, over the last couple weeks in terms of how slow the aid is going in, it's down to israeli checks and their determination to keep a close eye what's going into gaza, difficulty getting anyone down also to egyptian security concerns. they made it very clear from the start they want a close eye on anyone coming out of gaza. not only because they want to avoid a flood of refugees, but also because they are determined that the palestinians should not be forced out of gaza. both have seen jordan and lebanon taken in palestinian refugees over the decades and never seen them go back. so egypt is keeping a very close eye. these lists are published daily and they have to be organized between egyptian, israeli, hamas authorities. so we have no real insight into how those list are compiled. what we do understand from families who are desperately trying to reach loved ones inside, that it's difficult to reach them because of the blackout we've seen again over the course of the last day or so, but also because some people are getting to the crossing, seeing their name on the list, finding their wife or child is not. therefore, deciding to stay put. until they can get their other families out. so a fairly chaotic situation, and important to remember those people coming out little by little and bringing with them the tale what's they've been through have been camped out for many of them at that gate for many days, or eve an couple weeks, with very little access to food and water. there is no sanitation right now inside the gaza strip and, of course, with the daily fear of israeli bombardments that have over the course of the last three yoov weeks come as far south as rafah. a chaotic situation but it continues and on the list today were names of 400 american citizens. boris? >> melissa bell, please, stand by. jeremy, to you. the israeli defense forces are now pushing towards gaza city. the idea that is the heart of hamas' operations. bring us up to speed on the status of that advance? >> reporter: that's right, boris. yesterday a top israeli commander said israeli forces were at the gates of gaza city, hamas' stronghold in northern gaza. today chief of staff of israel's military saying israeli forces are in gaza strip and operating there for several days now including, he said, in "significant areas of gaza strip." what is clear is that these battles are very contentious between israeli forces and -- excuse me -- and hamas militants and even as israeli forces are entering gaza strip they are also still engaged in fierce fighting in northern gaza as well. we were just across the border from the northeastern-most city in gaza city today and witnessed fierce fighting between israeli forces and hms militants. artillery fire. mortar shells fired off and gun battles between israeli forces and those hamas fighters as well. it's clear even as israeli forces enter the largest city in gaza, you know, they are still fighting hamas forces along those defensive front lines in the north near where israeli forces initially entered when they launched that expanded ground operation on friday. one of the reasons for that is those tunnels. dozens of miles of tunnels underneath gaza, which hamas fighters used to evade and ambush israeli forces. a clear and present danger for those forces and watched in days before the expanded ground operation as women in initial days those tunnel system as massive target for israeli forces. the problem with that, of course, as well, that those tunnels are underneath residential buildings in gaza, including that jabalia refugee camp, we saw israeli forces strike twice in two days resulting not only, they say in targeting and destruction of underground hamas tunnels, command centers, as well as a senior commander, also in a number of civilian casualties. you see the images, enormous craters left by israeli munitions dropped there and also see images of women and children pulled from amidst rubble. boris? >> very difficult images to process. jeremy diamond in israel and melissa bell in egypt, thank you so much. the pressure and violence in gaza follows president biden beyond the white house. a fund-raiser last night in min a protester identified as rabbi jessica rosenberg interrupted the president calling for a cease-fire. >> mr. president, the people as a rabbi i need you to call for a cease-fire right now. >> get out! get out. >> biden re sponded understanding the emotion and called for a humanitarian pause. saying i think we need a "pause." time to get prisoners out, but careful not to say he supports a cease-fire. that video released by the group jewish voice for peace. turn now to a spokesperson for the israeli government. thanks so much for being here with us and for making time. we just played that clip from that fund-raiser last night. president biden saying last night he supports pausing fighting to get the hostages out. is that something your government would consider? >> israel has already twice temporarily paused hostilities to get the hostages out. clearly a prospect of releasing our innocent hostages we will not bombard those areas in order to get them out safely. that is indeed the case. if we're able to get our 240 people out including babies, absolutely it would be possible to have a temporary cessation to have safe return. >> would that motivate you to do that again? >> our assessment that the current ground operation is advancing conditions to help free our hostages. we've already seen four hostages released under heavy international pressure. calling on more international pressure to release the rest of them immediately and unconditionally. hamas isn't suddenly going to develop a humanitarian backbone and release the children abducted out of the kindness of its own heart. we're moving in and will physically free the hostages and put pressure on hamas to release them unconditionally and immediately and the united states has been clear there's no excuse to abducting people from their beds and holding them hostage in the gaza strip. >> just heard from secretary of state antony in blinken. he highlighted not just discussing the day of and the moment to moment, as you all are living it, but the day after. essentially setting conditions for a durable sustainable peace. those were his words. and than you all will talk about that. is israel ready to have that conversation right now? >> we're exploring several different contingencies for the day after hamas but i want to stress, this is premature. the like discussing the marshall plan before the battle of stalingrad. we're very on in our campaign to defeat hamas and destroy it in response to the october 7th massacre. several scenarios are on the table. the common denominator between them all the gaza strip will be completely demilitarized when this campaign is over. we will not go back into a world where this enclave can be used to attack us with rockets, thousands of rockets just in the last few weeks, to invasions of the death squads that burn, butchered, raped, beheaded people october 7th, but very premature. we know the battle ahead to dislodge hamas just as the world took many years to wipe out isis in syria, that road will be difficult and long and there is a time for those discussions. >> i understand what you're saying in that you were very much in this right now. you, your government, the idf, repeatedly saying that your plan is to wipe out hamas. that is what will happen. so what does that potentially look like if it's a demilitarized gaza? what would that look like? >> it is very premature to look at what the day after scenario will look like. we're in the war not because we initiated it but hamas declared war on us october 7th with that massacre clleaving us no choiceo move in and dismantle the terror organization which perpetrated that. i wish i could come say there was an organized plan and vision in advance, this was a war we were surprised by, dragged into and look forward to working with our international partners to rebuild the gaza strip the day after hamas in a way that can no longer pose threats to our people and just as importantly, it can never be used again by a terror organization that has subjugated as it has the last 16 years devoting all that humanitarian aid into building its tunnels and rockets and hope the day after hamas will be safer not only for people of israel but people of the gaza strip as well. >> the state department here in the u.s. has said it's concerned about growing israeli settler violence against palestinians in the west bank. that is likely to be talked about as well as the u.s. officials are there in israel. what do you think the israeli government should be doing about that? >> clearly, we deplore anyone trying to take the law into their own hands and firmly condemn any vigilantes and more hooliganism. that's not our way or our values. we're focusing on defeating hamas in the gaza strip trying to stop the conflict from escalating further and we know hamas immediately with the october 7th massacre called on palestinians in the west bank to gram their guns, knives, go and attack jews. trying to gdrag hezbollah into the war as well. anything leading to widespread violence. >> thank you for your time. appreciate it. >> thank you very much. any time. the trumps are back in court today with don jr. and eric taking the stand in the civil fraud trial. live out to the courthouse, next. also ahead -- republican presidential candidate nikki haley isn't pulling punches rising in polls, but will that make a dent in the front-runner's huge lead? you're watching "cnn news central" and we'll be right back. donald trump's son eric on the witness stand in new york temperatures in the fraud trial against the trump family business. don jr. finished his testimony earlier today, and the brothers executive vice-presidents at the trump organization and co-defendants in the trial. cnn's jen bringrass is outside the courtroom. tense exchanges between eric trump and the assistant attorney general about the president's financial statements. what happened there? >> reporter: yeah. jessica, it's important to keep in mind as we follow this trial, these financial statements are the heart of the case, and so when the state's attorney general, assistant attorney general was questioning eric trump on the stand, asking questions about how long has he been aware of financial statements, has he had any part in preparing those financial statements and eric trump essentially under oath said he wasn't aware of financial statements until the investigation from the ag started a few years ago. well, the assistant attorney general questioning him brought up emails, brought up phone calls, brought up testimony from prior witnesses making it clear that he had knowledge about his father's financial statement of conditions for more than a decade ago. bring up one graphic to show you exactly what was said on the stand. the question, so you did know about your father's annual financial statement as of august 20th, 2013? didn't you? that was from the state's attorney, and in answer trump responds, appears that way, yes. a little contradiction in the testimony of eric trump. this led to a very tense exchange. our colleagues in the courtroom says eric trump leaned forward into the microphone yelled a little louder that he, again, had no part in preparing the financial statements of his father. again, information that is very much at the heart of this case. now, not distancing himself from the preparation of those statements also something his older brother don jr. did pretty much on the stand for the entire three hours that he testified when he was finished he did come down the courtroom steps went to the camera. hear what he said about this civil fraud trial. >> before even having a day in court i'm apparently guilty of fraud for relying on my accountant to do, wait for it, accounting. i mean, think about that. what does that do for literally any other business? >> reporter: now, these sentiments sound very familiar if following this because we've heard much of the same argument made by his father when he comes to the microphone. don jr. a little less contentious on the stand. we'll see how eric trump's testimony continues. it's unclear how long he will be on the stand in cross-examination, if it's going to happen from the defense. of course, everyone in the courtroom and will follow it for you and keep you updated. >> outside the courtroom in new york. thanks. boris? trump's business empire may be on the line in new york, but his dominant grip on the gop primary race appears to grow tighter. however, one republican rival is rising in polls. this morning south carolina governor nikki haley laid out, former governor, how she thinks she can catch the 2024 front-runner. listen. >> i do think i can catch trump and, yes, he has a good lead on us, but the reason he's got a good lead is we still have a number of candidates in the race. as you see that wind down, as you see that field get smaller, you're going to start to see his lead get soft. >> let's chat with ron bownstein. senior eder for "the atlantic." ron is that strategy going to work? echoes of 2016 when ted cruz and marco rubio saying, once they get out, they'll consolidate. >> look, donald trump has as big a lead we've seen any candidate have in any contested primary since the primary system started in 1972. having said e that i think a more clarified path out of iowa for nikki haley there for ron desantis if she can get a boost in that first state. desantis is running in iowa the way mike muck bedid in '08, santorum in "12, trying to consolidate evangelical support and max out with those voters. the problem, each candidate after winning iowa immediately cratered in new hampshire where there aren't that many of those voters. haley is mobilizing a different situation. more trying to consolidate white collar suburban republicans. if she can get past desantis in iowa and get a boost by finishing second, there's a more logical pathway for her. more voters in new hampshire and calendar turns to south carolina where she is former governor. >> i want to ask about comments made last night on the "daily show" raerdingregardy florida'sr desantis. to what doll you attribute her rise? a sign some of ready to move on from donald trump in a way significant to the race? >> i think her rise right dnow has more to do with her and desantis than it yet has to do with trump. she's rising in part done well in debate and caught attention of many republican voters. desantis also had problems in performance. on paper seems stronger than in practice, and made a strategic choice really limited his reach. he basically marketed himself as trump inch without trump. turns out the vast majority of republican voter who want trumpism also want trump. right? so haley had, i think, a more kind of coherent appeal to a portion of the party that's resistant to trump. problem, as you suggest, that is not majority. she ultimately ly has to find a way, if she's going to seriously, or anyone seriously challenge him, peel away voters who now support trump but none irrevocably -- the question, her argument will change an electability and proving more appealing to those maybe sometimes trump voters, than desantis's version of trumpism without trump. >> you mentioned that her ascendancy is tied to how well done in debates. one next week. we don't expect donald trump will be there, but should he take them on more directly? time to pivot to focusing on trump? >> i think at some point obviously has to make that case. she is trying to do it in a kind of indirect gentle way talking about generational change. as i said that might prove less confrontational to some trump voters than the desantis argument of trumpism without trump. at the moment, she can -- her first goal is to try to eclipse desantis and become the clear alternative. i'm not sure she hawaii to take on donald trump yet. if she can come in second in iowa, there is, i think more runway for her to use that platform effectively in new hampshire than for desantis based on the precedence of huckaby, santorum and cruz, laes vote after running in iowa the way desantis is and if she can do reasonably well in iowa, south carolina obviously a good, a friendly territory for her, but you're right. eventually to go beyond this 30% part of the party really looking for something else than trump, she's going have to find a way to convince some voters now with trump. >> quickly, i promised you a question on haley talking about desantis. made a joke about him in high heels. a story hims have lifts in his boots. if he's wearing high heels should be able to run in there and she had a -- actually a sound bite. it let's hear it. >> yep. >> are you wearing higher heels than ron desantis next week at the debate so you can look taller than him on the stage? >> [ laughter ]. i don't know. we'll have to, figure that out. i can tell you i've always talked about my high heels. i've never, you know, hid that from anybody. always said, don't wear them if you can't run in them. we'll see if he can run in them. >> she seemed to take joy in that question, but we've seen ron desantis now several times try to reset his campaign. hasn't really worked. do you think we've seen the high point, or some point, of ron desantis run for president? >> think of ginger rogers, and fred astaire. backwards in heels. problematic, emblematic. as an actual flesh and blood candidate, it's just been consistently a little more awkward than seemed it would be the morning after the election when he won florida i