welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper in washington, d.c. a busy afternoon as we come on the air this afternoon, an historic and contentious day in court has just come to a close. moments ago we saw donald trump leave the courthouse in new york followed by the new york state attorney general letitia james who brought the civil fraud case against mr. trump and the family business. the former president spend the day on the stand repeatedly classing with the judge, the very person who will decide how much the trumps must pay after he already found them liable for fraud. we're going to go to the courthouse in a moment where this case could put trump at risk of losing his entire business operation in new york where he's accused of inflating financial statements. hs ahead, an astounding number coming out of gaza, the p.i.n. mrin stri of health which is controlled by hamas, the palestinian ministry claiming more than 10,000 deaths have taken place in response to the initial hamas on october 7th. the biden white house says one should consider the source. they don't accept the number. without question thousands of innocents have been killed in gaza. israeli's military says it's advancing towards gaza city after a brief evacuation window for civilians. we start in new york city where donald trump just finished testifying in the trial that could determine the future of his entire business enterprise. the former president spent much of his time on the stand calling the judge names as well as the new york attorney general and the case as a whole. it's a message he essentially repeated after he left court just moments ago. >> it went very well. i think we were there, we listened. w you see what a scam this is. this is a case that should never have been brought. it's a case that should be dismissed meimmediately. the fraud is on behalf of the court. the court is the fraudster in this case. >> donald trump and the trump organization are accused of repeatedly lying about the value of their assets and their properties, and the new york state attorney general letitia james says despite trump's actions on the stand today, she believes her prosecutors have proven that fraught. cnn's kaitlan collins is live outside the courthouse in manhattan. the trump team has said their legal and political strategy are one in the same. so it should not be a surprise, i suppose, that trump's approach to his testimony today was attack, attack, attack. >> reporter: jake, he repeatedly went after the attorney general seated in the front row who brought this case against him, and he did nothing to ingratiate himself with the man who is going to make the decision here, judge arthur en goran who was presiding overall this. instead, trump went after him, too, criticizing him for that summary judgment that already found trump liable for fraud. why he's on the stand today, what the point of all this is, is to determine how much money he could have to pay, the penalties he could face as a result of being found liable for that fraud, the case the attorney general has made here. something she just noted despite the attacks and insults he hurled at her direction. instead she pointed back to the numbers. that is something notable as well, jake. yes, there was a lot of back and forth between this judge, trump, trump's attorneys. it took up most of the oxygen as he was on the witness stand. but there were key moments as the assistant attorney general who maintained his composure and continued with his line of questioning was getting answers from the former president about just what he knew about those documents, stating the values of his properties, talking about his net worth, talking about the terms he agreed to with banks like deutsche bank to get those loans he had secured. of course, those were numbers that the attorney general said were inflated. instead, they used those to get more favorable terms for those loans. they did seem to get answers as he was having these aside and these outbursts, going after the judge, after the attorney general. he was also acknowledging and had much closer proximity to those numbers than what previous witnesses including his own sons had alluded to, jake. >> kaitlan, there are still weeks left of this trial. what might come next? >> reporter: we do know ivanka trump is going to be here on wednesday. there is no court tomorrow because it's election day. ivanka trump is going to be testifying on wednesday, something she tried to fight but has since dropped her appeals. one notable aspect, jake, the defense did say today they're going to question ivanka trump as well. we haven't seen them do that with donald trump, jr. or eric trump or even donald trump today. they did signal they will be questioning ivanka trump. after that attorney general letitia james says they will rest their case. that's when the defense will take their turn. cries kise, one of trump's attorneys, says he expects it to go until about december 15th or so. that's what the timeline is looking like right now. one more thing on trump's attorneys. chris kise has been the lead attorney on this case. he was commenting on trump's answers today calling them brilliant. he referred to trump as the next president of the united states. he just came outside the court today, even in spite of the brutal back and forth, he said in his 30 years practicing law, he claimed that trump was the best witness he had ever represented. >> kaitlan collins, thanks so much. let's bring in cnn chief legal analyst laura coates. let's start with what we just saw, donald trump left the stand and his team chose not to cross-examine. why? >> it's odd to do so. the purpose is to rehabilitate your client. it's to say, here are things you maybe got wrong or i want to buttress your credibility. that they did not suggests that either, a, they believe he was great on the stand, really the best they've ever seen. or b, it would be a fruitless endeavor. probably the latter. >> trump's lawyers also told the judge at the end of the day they want to make a motion for a mistrial. do you think they have any sort of argument here? >> i don't. i think they have every right to file that motion because most litigants do that. the basis is either bias on the part of the judge, also some factual or legal error that's been made. i'm unaware of any of that that's happened in the particular trial. guess who decides that? the judge. >> speaking of which, are you surprised that donald trump was so combative with the judge who is the one person who will decide the fate of his business? >> i'm not surprised he's combative. generally that seems to be the m.o. that leads him to have many of his base and supporters loving him. with a judge whose job it is to decide the case -- remember, a lot of this has already been done, jake. they already have a motion that says you have fraudulent documents, you're liable for fraud. now it's about how expensive it's going to be. the judge didn't rule on those things yet. a quarter billion dollars, having a conservativeship with your clients there's still a window of opportunity for leniency. not ingratiate to bend the knee, but to acknowledge the respect and decorum necessary for that ruling is surprising. >> chris kise said today trump's answers were relevant to the questions asked and, quote, brilliant. what does that tell you about the overall strategy? >> maybe there's an ostrich. when you answer a question blatantly to the court, you must answer the question. he was circuitous, he was meandering, the judge criticized him for those points of view. it's not because he wants to hear you talk, he wants to hear the answers to the question. it's not a jury trial. he's trying to figure out if you have credibility. the longer your answer, the longer-winded, the more around robin's bend you go, the less credible you are. >> trump did acknowledge there could have been a mistake on his financial statement when it came to trump tower. but said, quote, there's a disclaimer clause where you don't have to get sued by the attorney general of new york. is that in any way a legitimate defense? >> no. the judge already found it wasn't. the judge said, listen, you can't just offer miss calculating or wrong and misleading and fraudulent information and then say, wait, just kidding. do your own due dill jans here. you have to rely on what's actually being said. the judge already resolved that issue. what he's trying to do is suggest, and you can't have both worlds. you kay say on one hand he's in control of everything thing and say, i handed it over and delegated. both can't be true in a fraud trial. >> vm is set to testify on wednesday. unlike her brothers, she's not a co-defendant in the case. how could her testimony differ potentially? >> it's crucial because she would have insight into how the workings of the business operation actually functioned, also, what was that chain of command, who really was in control. and when documents are given, who has to sign off on it? remember, her brothers, her father, weisselberg, the former ceo, they're all officers of the company. i jokingly talk about this is not the dmv driver's license, you give me your weight and we wink, wink, figure out the rest. i have to give real information that's then used for insurance policies and tax appreciation and tax liability. if i give you fake information and i know it is or it's a reckless disregard for what's true, i'm liable. >> this is a civil case, a civil trial. the other four cases that trump is facing are criminal. does his behavior today give you any insight into how those other trials will go, or might he behave differently. is there any reason to think that maybe somebody said it's okay for you to behave this way in a civil case, but don't behave that way in a criminal case? >> i wonder about that a lot. on one hand one would think one's liberty at stake would be the one you take the most seriously. but for him, his political currency, his life currency is his brand and his business. he's been in this courtroom not every single day, bup when it counted he's been there, in front of the cameras. he's very clear he takes it very seriously for that reason. i would note there's still a liability factor, whether it's criminal and punishment and jail time or not, this case feels more real to him in realtime. it's more urgent. the ruling will come before the rest of these other trials even have a chance to begin. this one ought to feel as real as it does. >> lastly, in terms of the other criminal cases, the other criminal cases, whether he wins -- well, if he loses, they can be appealed up to the court of appeals and then up to the u.s. supreme court. what about a civil case? >> it can be appealed and oftentimes will. the basis for why you can make an inpen trabl case is to have credible findings. the appellate court looks at legal errors, not your factual credibility assessments. that's why this judge is so clear to credit testimony or not because you can't reverse on those. >> you can catch more of laura on "laura coates live" tonight if you didn't get enough. who possibly could have gotten enough? the next witness on the stand in this case is vm. she'll testify on wednesday. we'll look for that coverage as well right here on "the lead" as this contentious day wraps up. how donald trump is using this civil fraud trial and all the criminal cases against him to power these 202424 campaignsns. stay w with us. we're back with our law and justice lead. former president trump just finished speaking after wrapping up his historic and often combative testimony in the new york civil fraud trial against him. cnn's kristen holmes is outside the courthouse in new york. and gangel is here with me. how do trump's dramatic antics, whatever you want to call them, how do they coincide with his presidential campaign? >> reporter: jake, this is all part of a strategy in order to really shape the political narrative around these ongoing court cases. one, it's just lumping them altogether, even though this is brought by the new york attorney general and the other are state and federal criminal cases. this is to paint himself as a victim, a political martyr who is essentially only getting quote, unquote, persecuted because he's running for president because democrats or whomever his rivals are don't want to see him win his presidency again. i will tell you yesterday donald trump flew into new york, he had a prep session with his lawyers ahead of the testimony. the top of the conversation all day yesterday, and that's from sources who spoke to him, was all about those poll numbers, "the new york times" poll numbers we've been talking about all day. the reason that's important is when they see numbers like that, they believe their strategy is working. any advisor you talk to say they don't know exactly what this is going to look like just drum get the nomination. right now, particularly after seeing these polls, they believe this narrative around election interference or the two-tiered justice system or the fact that this is, quote, unquote, unfair, is working with voters. so they're going to continue doing it. >> jamie, what do you make of trump's tactic of being on the stand and being on the attack? >> donald trump knows how to behave in court. he's been in court a lot over the years. this was a strategy. there's no question about it. he knows he's already been found liable for fraud. this is not the way you treat a judge who is going to rule on the penalty. donald trump doesn't want to pay $250 million. he doesn't want to have his business dismantled. i think what you saw is someone, to kristen's point, who looked at those polls, these are polls that show he's beating biden in battleground states and he's looking at one thing. he's looking at next november. >> what are the political implications, do you think? look, he clearly thinks this helps him. if you talk to political consultants, they will say voters like a politician who is on the attack. there is no question if you look at donald trump he thinks that works for him. >> and the idea that joe biden is behind these prosecutions, even though there is no evidence at all that he's behind these prosecutions, whether new york or whether jack smith, the special counsel, et cetera, et cetera, there's no evidence, none. trump keeps saying it. does that matter? >> it certainly works with his base. you usually ask me a question, will anything make a difference? if he loses his business, will that make a difference? he has four more criminal cases. as far as his base is concerned and as far as the polls we've been seeing, he's going up. >> kristen, let me ask you, this trial is going on and the third debate is wednesday. do we think this will affect that at all? i think he's planning on not showing up for that debate? >> reporter: drum is holding his own counterprogramming event down the street from the debate, to take eyes away from the debate as he clashes with the rnc over those debates. he's continually said they need to stop holding them because he has such a significant lead. it's interesting when we talk about the dynamic between the ping-ponging that trump is doing now, going to court and then on the campaign trail and what we know for the next year. this is just the beginning of what will be a juggling act between his legal appearances and trying to run a campaign in 2024. one of the things we talk about a lot here is the fact that the political and legal messaging is one in the same now. that's also true of the scheduling and of the campaign. behind the scenes the legal team is working with the campaign team to essentially help him run for president in 2024, to give a schedule of when those trial dates are so the political team can work around that and schedule those campaign events. we're really talking about a mind meld of donald trump's legal issues and his ongoing trials, looming trial calendar and the political schedule. >> jamie gangel, kristen holmes, thank you. you heard trump calling prosecutors legal hacks. how do you manage a campaign against him? we'll get some expert opinion next. c'mon, we're right there. c'mon baby. it's the only we need. go, go, go, go! ah! touchdown baby! -touchdown! are your neighbors watching the same game? yeah, my 5g home internet delays the game a bit. but you get used to it. try these. they're noise cancelling earmuffs. i stole them from an airport. it's always something with you, man. great! solid! -greek salad? exactly! don't delay the game with verizon or t-mobile 5g home internet. catch it on the xfinity 10g network. we saw some democrats turn against each other with former obama adviser david axelrod, the question is president biden running for president for his best interest or the country's best interest. biden chief oftaff said this is the man who called biden mr. magoo in 2019. still at it. all this driven by new poll numbers not looking good for biden in his bid to stay in the oval office. jim messina served as obama's white house deputy chief of staff. we just saw donald trump leaving court despite his many, many legal issues, the latest "new york times" polling shows trump is not hurting politically. biden is the one struggling in battlegrounds. trump up 10 in nav nav, 5 in arizona, 5 in michigan, 4 in pennsylvania. how do you explain it? >> a couple ways, jake. the whole thing about polling this far out is silly. this time in 2011, nate silver put barack obama on the cover of "new york times" magazine and said he had a 17% chance to win re-election and he was toast. clearly president obama won handily over mitt romney. at this same time george bush, bill clinton, barack obama trailed. all of them ended up winning. right now people are comparing biden to the almighty. we haven't gotten to the binary choice you talked about earlier. next year when we're at that binary choice, that's when swing voters start to pay attention, not this far out. >> it's a pretty binary choice between trump and biden. trump is leading far and ahead. we just showed you polls between biden and trump. a plurality are picking trump. >> yeah, but you and i also remember the same polls showed obama trailing. there was a poll out week that had biden up seven nationally. not that i think that poll is any better. i think you can't poll this far out for a variety of reasons and just think it's going to be who is going to win the election. right now there's a lot of people pissed at the incumbent president, as they always are for a variety of reasons. i thought you framed it perfectly earlier, trump's behavior today in court whether it was smart politics or not, that's going to continue next year. it's going to continue to remind people why they got rid of him the first time because he sort of drives them crazy and they don't want to have that kind of circus. that will be a good moment for biden as well. >> axelrod is publicly asking the question we heard other democrats mentions, some from behind the camera, most behind the scenes, should biden stay in the race? he largely won in 2020 because trump was so disliked by swing voters. what do you think? >> look, i think the data really matters here. since world war ii, if one incumbent party hasn't run, the other party has won since 1988. we've already had the election of trump versus biden. biden knows how to stand up to trump. let's say that we get rid of -- biden decides today he's not going to run. we have a 20-way primary. we have no idea who is going to come out of that primary, and several months layer they have donald trump in the general election. is that a better bet than the guy who has already won? i don't think so. >> going back to "the new york times" poll, asking who is better in a democracy? biden is 48% and 45 for trump. two of trump's lawyers have now pleaded guilty in ge