. hello, everyone, and good morning. welcome to "cnn this morning." sunday, december 10. i'm amara walker. >> i'm victor blackwell. thank you for joining us. here's what we're watching for you. >> everything just, like, he can employed. this is what it felt like, like everything exploded. pressure built up and popped. >> six people are dead after tornados ripped through tennessee overnight. we are hearing of significant damage in some towns and a state of emergency is in effect. plus, tracking the threat for more storms today. >> two of the university of pennsylvania's leaders have stepped down following that highly criticized testimony about antisemitism on campus. the reaction coming in to those resignations. former president trump is expected to testify in new york civil fraud case against him despite advice from his attorneys. the potential legal implications of the decision. the cdc says black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than white women. you could birthing centers help bring those numbers down? we will discuss later on "cnn this morning." tennessee rescue are searching for survivors after tornados and strong thunderstorms tore through the state leaving at least six people dead and dozens injured. three people, including a child, were killed in clarksville when tornados tore through the town. eyewitness video shows a tornado churning across a road there in clarksville, throwing debris and ripping through power lines. >> oh [ bleep ]! oh, my god! >> this video is from nashville. it shows a tornado moving through the city. it caused electrical flashes, as you saw there. then an explosion. officials in nashville say another three people were killed there by storm. the mayor declared a state of emergency and said emergency crews are working in hard-to-reach areas. >> we are tracking for more storms today. alyssa rafah is here with more. >> we have again like you said that threat continues as we go into the afternoon today and there is still some damage that needs to be surveyed. we have so far 24 preliminary tornado reports from this system. you can see the cluster up near nashville, another near jackson, mississippi. three of those tornados are confirmed and we have to survey that damage to get more information through the day today. the showers now are stretching from upstate new york down to the florida panhandle. we are focusing on the south here because this is where severe threat continues this morning. we have a tornado warning right now just to the west there of tallahassee where we've had additional tornado warnings this morning. we have a watch that's in effect until about 9:00 a.m. for parts of alabama, georgia and then down into florida panhandle and including cities like macon south of atlanta there and that's where we still have enough fuel to get additional spin-up tornados. into the afternoon the threat slides east. from d.c. down to the florida panhandle. you see this yellow there, that bull's-eye? that's where we have that higher risk for a few tornados along the carolina coast this afternoon. some of those ingredients just come together a little bit better. even in the green looking at the threat of at east an isolated tornado and damaging wind gusts to 60 to 70 miles per hour. through the day you can see the showers and storms really billowing headed into charlotte as we go into the afternoon with the heavy rain. continues to push east on the overnight and then you get this pop of cold air. that's why the storm is so intense. cold air behind it starts to pop in, change some of that heavy rain to snow from the appalachian mountains up through west virginia and then you can see some of that snow really pumping in interior new england. heavy rain in the meantime along the coast from new york to boston. so multiple hazards with this. one is flooding. two to four inches of rain possible. these flood watches in effect for 55 million people, including cities like philly, d.c., new york, and boston, and those go through monday. you can see the rain forecast. lots of those yellows popping with some two to four inches of rain in the yellows there along the i-95 corridor and snow stays confined to interior new england but you could be looking at eight, ten inches of snow up to a foot in some places. again, to be looking out for parts of upstate new york and then headed into vermont. and for that we have got some winter storm warnings that will go through the afternoon and evening and even into monday. we will start to see those pinks there, we have got some of those heaviest snow totals. multiple hazards through the rest of the weekend that we will have to keep watching for. >> thank you very much. backlash against three u.s. university presidents over their comments to congress about antisemitism has now led to two resignations. university of pennsylvania president liz magill has resigned along with the head of the school's board of trustees. this is after magill and the presidents of harvard and m.i.t. were asked if calling for the genocide of jews would violate their universities code of conduct. >> reporter: in back-to-back resignation announcements, the president of the university of pennsylvania announced she would be stepping down from her position moments before the university official who made her announcement also said that he, too, would be resigning. liz magill announced saturday she would be stepping down from her position as upenn president per a university statement she will remain tenured faculty at the university's law school and agreed to stay on while they find an interim replacement. as we have reported, students, faculty, the community in general has said that they lost confidence in magill after tuesday's congressional hearing in which she and the presidents of m.i.t. and harvard failed to explicitly say that calls for genocide of jews would immediately violate their university's codes of conduct. now, moments after magill's announcement, scott bok said he, too, would be stepping down as the chair of the university's board of trustees. in a statement, bok wrote former president liz magill last week made a very unfortunate misstep. he goes on to write, following that it became clear her position was no longer tenable and she and i concurrently decided that it was time for her to exit. bok also defending magill, calling her a good perp, a talented leader and in his words not the slightest bit antisemitic. also interesting in bok's statement, he offered some potential insight into what may have been magill state of mind at the time of that tass rouse hearing as bok wrote she was not herself being questioned by lawmakers, she was, quote, overprepared, over lawyered and provided a legalistic answer to a moral question and that, bok says, was wrong. >> thank you so much. eric finger hut, president and ceo of the jewish federation. good morning to you. and also we'll mention that you're the former chancellor of the ohio board of regents. so from that perspective as well, your reaction to these resignations? >> well, they were absolutely necessary and they were absolutely appropriate after the testimony this week. but also because the universities in general, university of pennsylvania in particular, have failed to effectively address the dramatic rise in antisemitism we have seen on campus that is putting jewish students at risk. but clearly the question of whether or not calling for genocide of jews is a violation of the code of conduct of the university, the question wasn't whether it was legal, illegal, the question whether it was a violation of the code of conduct, how we want our universities to behave, moral and ethical standard in educational atmosphere we want to create, that should have been a clear -- should have been a clear yes, and the fact that there was any equivocation speaks volumes about the state of the thinking of the leaders on our campuses. >> so let's examine that because you, i guess, put several things together there. congresswoman steph stanick asked a pointed question if this violates or would break the rules as relates to harassment and bullying. the president at u pen is out. but the policy is the same. anyone who answers that question may give a far better answer. if the policies don't change on these campuses, are the jewish students at upenn any safer today than they were before the resignation? >> well, many of the stated policies are adequate. some are not. but i would add that it requires leadership. it requires those who are in the positions of leadership, obviously, university presidents being the most visible, to understand that their role in creating an educational environment and being the educators of the next generation of leaders of our society is to focus not just on, you know, what the physical facilities of the campus look like or even the -- which academic programs are listed, but what are we teaching in terms of the moral and ethical role that our students need to be able to fulfill in the future. if they are not clear as to how we treat each other, speak to each other, what the boundaries of civil society and respect are, then we have a serious problem, and that's why the feedback after the congressional testimony was focused on the presidents and rightly so. >> so it's safe to assume you would like to see resignations from the presidents of harvard and m.i.t. as well? >> obviously, those are up to those universities. i think what happened at penn was the necessary and appropriate step and i would hope the others would conclude the same. >> so this is hanukkah. a time of celebration. and menorahs in windows and public celebration. i was going to ask you whether people should or were you expecting jews to put those menorahs in the windows. last night i watched your speech at the city club of cleveland:i know you have gotten that question many times -- tells you about my saturday night -- and you reminded us about the jewish law that says you must publicize the miracle, that it is to be celebrated publicly. i wonder, though, why you say unlike other times in history, this is not a time to hide, to conceal. explain that. >> well, as the leader of the jewish federation system, this remarkable collection of community jury organizations across north america, we are deeply invested in our countries and our societies in the united states and canada, we helped build these countries. these are the freest, most open, inclusive and welcoming societies for jewish people in history outside of the state of israel, and it's important to us that we not seed the leadership of this society and that we not allow these free and open societies to be consumed by hate. and so while we are taking all necessary and appropriate security measures in our jewish communities and we are investing heavily in making sure every jewish institution and community is safe and protected, nevertheless, we feel it's very important to stand in -- to show up in our public spaces and be clear that we will not be intimidated nor give up the public square. it's one of the reasons why 300,000 jewish advocates showed up on the national mall just less than a month ago in front of the capitol to advocate for support for israel and for freeing the hostages and fighting antisemitism. so we feel that we have in place the safety and security protections both through our law enforcement agencies that have been such good partners with us and through our own efforts of our federations and that standing up had public right now is a critically important moment in the history of our american communities. >> eric finger hut, thank you so much. happy hanukkah. tomorrow donald trump is expected to retake the witness stand. new york attorney general letitia james is suing trump for $250 million and seeking to bar him from doing business in the state. against his attorney's advice, he will give the final word in his defense in a high-stakes trial that could alter his real estate empire. >> still ahead -- >> even though my advice at this point, you should never take the stand with a gag order. he is firmly against what is happening in this court. >> despite his own attorney's advice not to testify, former president donald trump is preparing to take the stand in the high-stakes civil fraud trial against him and his real estate company. >> i think the case is really important for him and i think that's partly why he wants to testify. based on the evidence, based on his own history of testifying, he is not going to save the case by testifying. >> reporter: this will be the first time he is questioned by his own attorney. the last time trump testified in a case he was questioned by the new york attorney general's office. this time it will be his lawyers asking the questions and giving him, the former president, an opportunity to respond in a way that he wants. >> you have to remember this is a civil case. so if there were really criminal charges that could be brought in the background, you as an attorney have a concern that your testimony could be used against you criminally in a future case. it's not likely there is a criminal case gonna stem from this. with mr. trump, look, putting him on the stand is always a huge risk. >> reporter: the former president using some familiar language to address his troubles. >> this is a political witch hunt. this is meant to influence an election it's a disgrace to our country. i should be right now in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina. i shouldn't be sitting in a courthouse. and i don't have to sit here. i could just do what i want, whatever i want to do, but i want to make sure you get the true story. >> all right. still ahead, the white house moves forward with an emergency sale of ammunition for israel's tanks as the humanitarian effort in gaza breaks down. and could birthing centers be the answer to a maternal health disparity among women of color? why some expectant mothers do not feel safe at hospitals. president biden is spending his weekend on the campaign trail. he made a quick trip to california to raise money for his re-election and in the midwest nikki haley, ron desantis, vivek ramaswamy spoke on their faith, family, potential policies a up mitt in iowa. haley pushed for more election security, desantis had to clarify remarks calling on out of state voters to participate in the caucuses there in iowa. ramaswamy hinted at a possible expansion of former president donald trump's travel ban on certain muslim-majority countries. the iowa caucuses are january 15th. we are joined by cnn's chief congressional correspondent manu raju. let's talk about this critical week ahead. as we know, the house republicans are expected to vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry into president biden and of course we have those talks that are continuing over ukraine and israel aid. it's still kind of stalled there in congress. what can we expect? >> yeah, this is an absolutely critical week because of the fact that lawmakers are scheduled to head out of town by the ep of the week and when you talk about aid to ukraine, to israel, this hinges on whether or not they can get a deal on tightening immigration laws at the border with mexico. republicans insisted there must be a deal to restrict the flow of migrants from the -- into the country before they agree to moving forward with aid to ukraine. even as the white house has warned that ukraine aid must be approved this month. otherwise, that country risks being knee capped at this critical time in its war against russia. israel caught in the middle of this. can they get a deal? they have talked all weekend. they are not near a deal. had they punt into the new year? that's a big question. how do they move forward in the house on a separate matter, an impeachment inquiry into president joe biden. house republicans want to show momentum, including the new speaker mike johnson. he is putting this on the floor to authorize the inquiry, which has been going on couple of months. they want to have a vote to authorize it. they need to have all the members in line, including the vulnerable members and lose no more than three republican votes. in talking to the vulnerable members, it is clear that they are ready to move ahead on an impeachment inquiry but they are not ready to move ahead to impeach the president. some say in their view they don't believe there is enough proof or evidence to show that the president acted corruptly in any way to aid his son hunter which is the essence of that impeachment inquiry. >> amidst all this, i mean, the republican infighting continues. we are continuing to see the fallout from mccarthy's resignation. >> that's right. he announced the former speaker he would step aside from congress by the end of the month. further tightening that alreadinaro majority. a lot of the mccarthy allies that i spoke to are absolutely furious because they see this new speaker, mike johnson, making the same deals that kevin mccarthy had made that ultimately led to mccarthy's ouster. >> just within the past week, you have had people that were leaders in the charge to effectively throw him out and to say he had reneged on commitments that have come back and recently said they will agree to the things they were disagreeing to. >> people have changed their positions on -- how would you characterize that? >> it's dishonest. we knew that. we are spending more money as a result of what they have done, less conservative outcomes as a result of what they are doine ad they are doing this because they are complaining to the conservatives. >> a lot of the republicans are also grappling with this presidential primary and some of them simply see -- view had battle for second place behind donald trump as a tedious contest of sorts. one of them, senator josh hawley of missouri, has not yet endorsed anybody in this race, but he watched that republican debate that happened last week and he called it a spectacle. >> it's kind embarrassing. name calling. screaming. i think it's time to move on. i think voters -- i think president trump's got to be the nominee. they will get to vote soon. i thought that spectacle was not good. >> there are still divisions on capitol hill about whether the members actually want trump as a nominee. many leaders on the senate side in particular don't believe he is the best candidate to bring them back into the majority. very much concerned about that. so as this race plays out, divisions continue within the gop. >> sure do. manu raju, thank you very much. of course, much more later this morning on "inside politics" at 11:00 a.m. foreign leaders and non-profits are calling the humanitarian effort in gaza a disaster and the white house just skipped over agrees to sell ammunition to israel escalating the debate over the u.s.'s funding of the war in support for israel. that's next. the power goes out, and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book. who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up. plus, now through december 31st, eligible xfinity rewards members can get 25% off a storm ready wifi device. this morning the israeli military announced they hit more than 250 targets in the last 24 hours. the idf says that it focused on hamas military communication sites in underground tunnels located in gaza. >> in qatar, the u.n. secretary general declared he will not give up on advocating for a ceasefire in gaza even though the u.s. has vetoed a resolution. and the biden administration will sent 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition in an emergency sale with the price tag of over $106 million. >> cnn's ivan watson joins us live from beirut. explain this emergency declaration,