formally launch their impeachment inquiry into president biden will they move now to hold his son in contempt. markets soaring, the dow reaches a new high. retail numbers in, beating expectations, stock furthers up again. how high can it do? i'm john berman with kate bolduan and sara sidner, this is cnn news"news central." just moments ago we watched as rudy giuliani arrived at court in washington d.c. after saying he intends to take the stand in his defamation damages trial. in a move to counter emotional claims from two election workers who say his lies and conspiracy theories after the 2020 presidential election turned their lives upside down. over the past two days, the court heard gut wrenching testimony from former pole workers. they described how giuliani's lies spawned a flood of racist messages and even death threats that forced them to leave their jobs and home, cost them some friends and made them feel so unsafe they were afraid ton even use their own names. katelyn polantz is live outside the courtroom today. we heard rudy giuliani outside the courtroom again spewing lies, what can we expect today in court? >> today the question is does rudy giuliani take the stand in his own defense, take the oath and say the things he was saying about these two women, the georgia election workers. he's saying that he intends to take the stand and testify his lawyer told me as he was exiting court yesterday that is the plan. giuliani is planning on testifying. what is happening here in court, though, is this is a trial of emotional appeal. and a lot of emotional weight. so if giuliani is taking the stand, it's about him convincing the jury that they shouldn't saddle him with millions of dollars in payments to owe to these women for the emotional distress, the reputational damage they felt. but yesterday ruby freeman, one of the women, a volunteer in georgia, she created a scene in the courtroom that was so intense you could hear a pin drop. it was so emotional. she was wailing at times how she had lost her name, she was afraid to introduce herself to people, afraid to use her name, her id, this is about defamation and the damage of her name. and she also spoke about how deeply disturbing it was to get taunting racist voice mails over and over again, so much she had to go to the police in person and multiple times calling the police to help her after the election because of the harassment she felt having to leave her home. that is something the jury witnessed her speak about from the witness box just feet away from them with giuliani in the courtroom as well. and so now the plaintiff's side, they're done with their case, the jury comes in at 10:00 a.m., in just about an hour. and that's when rudy giuliani's lawyer will stand up before the judge and tell the jury whether or not the former mayor of new york, former lawyer for donald trump and his campaign, is going to be testifying as well. >> these two women were literally doing their civic duties and have had their life blown apart by the lies from rudy giuliani. he's already been convicted -- or he's already been found to have defamed them now it's whether he has to pay for that momentarily. thank you we'll be back with you in a bit. joining me is former manhattan prosecutor jeremy solan. we are waiting to see if rudy giuliani takes the stand. we'll know in a few minutes if he does so. can we take a step back and explain to me in a defamation case like this, particularly one he's been found to have defamed the plaintiffs here. what is a jury determining? what do they have to find? how does it work? >> they don't have to determine the defamation, whether it happened or not. it has to do with the damages. did he make the statements, and he knowingly made them and ultimately damaged them and hurt them. so we have the two elements at this point already resolved meaning there were the statements, the judge said there were these wrongful accusations that they cheated and took these ballots and recounted them. now what does that mean? how badly were they hurt? that's what they're deciding now. >> as he takes the stand, how can he help himself? >> i'd be concerned he could hurt himself if he takes the stand. we have a rico case in that same state with election fraud elements, if he goes out and tells the judge you're not allowed to protest this. if he goes out and testifies inconsistently, there's a risk that could impact his rico case. i don't know if he testifies, i wouldn't be shocked if he backed himself out like trump has. >> let me show you something that giuliani said this week, even after the trial started. after the first day. listen to this. >> of course i don't regreat it. i told the truth. they were engaged in changing votes. >> there's no proof of that. >> you're damn right there is. stay tuned. >> it seems as if giuliani wants to say he ordered the code red and he was admonished for those statements from the judge. >> he goes outside the courtroom a la trumps and says these things. see if he says it in the courtroom. the issue is not whether he said it and did it, although what the defense is arguing is what's the connection, we heard about postings on the internet, how many times these things were viewed. so there could be some argument there, but he has to run a tight rope, be careful. >> he is a defense witness. if you are the plaintiffs' attorneys on cross, what do you try to do to giuliani? >> you try to get him flustered, get him to make admissions. he's such a hot person, sort of again like donald trump, that it's not inconceivable he'll make that mistake and say something to damn him in this crimin civil case and the criminal one as well. if he comes out and says i'm telling the truth, these people committed frauds, it's going to blow up in his face. let's talk about the donald trump case, the judge put it on pause while donald trump gets some presidential immunity going through the system but perhaps a more consequential thing happened is the supreme court stepped in and said it's going to hear a case about whether the obstruction of congress can be used against really any january 6th defendants. how much does it muck up the federal case against donald trump? >> it can be delayed because if the supreme court decides to hear this case and appeal, and trump's attorneys have the ability to challenge that if they want to and stay in the circuit, it's going to delay the case and push it past march 4th. so it's reasonable if it gets delayed too long we may not see a trial before the election. >> jeremy saland thanks for being with us. joe biden is waking up facing a formal impeachment inquiry now. now the eighth president to face such an investigation. house republicans voted unanimously in support of the move. you can see how the vote count landed there. democrats voting unanimously against it. the investigation is already months long and it continues now despite showing no conclusive evidence that joe biden ever personally benefitted from his son's questionable business dealings. here's what the white house had to say today about that vote last night. >> they're just making up lies to attack the president in a relentless smear campaign that frankly has been going on for four straight years now. we went through an impeachment in the last administration over these same made-up allegations and the republicans in the house are rewinding the tam tape and running it again to try to score political points against the president instead of doing their actual jobs for the american people. >> house republicans are moving forward with their look into joe biden and are also vowing to hold hunter biden in contempt for defying their congressional subpoena to have him come testify behind closed doors yesterday. >> joining us now is democratic congressman from connecticut, sitting on one of the republican-led committees spearheading the impeachment inquiry. congressman thanks for coming in. president biden is formally facing the impeachment inquiry. you have called it absurd. do you think there is a chance here they will come up with anything concrete? they'll uncover anything concrete that will make you reconsider how you are describing it today? >> i don't think so. i think we've looked at so much quote/unquote evidence that the republicans have put forward and even republicans like mitt romney and others say there's not a shred of evidence implicating the president in any wrong doing whatsoever. >> what i keep hearing from republicans is that this is an impeachment inquiry. and that does not equal actual impeachment. let me play republican chip roy for you on this. >> this is an impeachment inquiry. that's all. what are my democratic colleagues afraid of if there's nothing to see there? >> what do you say to that? >> i think i would just inquire why there's an impeachment inquiry vote when we have so much other business to do. the reason is, they need something to bring the caucus together which is otherwise fractured on funding the government or doing any of the other things that your constituents want them to do right now, kate. >> the argument that we hear often from all sides, we can walk and chew gum at the same time, are you saying that you do not think that the republican majority in the house will be able to walk and chew gum at the same time when they go now full speed into this impeachment inquiry? >> well, i'm -- we're not able to take up anything subst substantively in the house to do. yesterday believe it or not, the signature vote in addition to this impeachment inquiry vote was whether or not he should allow whole milk in schools for our children to be drinking. that was the substance of the proceedings yesterday. so we're really at a loss right now as to how we're going to fund the government, w how we're going to take care of aid to israel and ukraine. taking care of border priorities and so forth. >> i have seen, you know, over the years i've seen many statements from your office, many emails from your office and you and statements from you, talking about just in general and i'm not talking about just in general with the impeachment inquiry of joe biden, but in general the need for people and institutions to comply with congressional subpoenas. even though you think this investigation is absurd, should hunter biden have complied with the congressional subpoena to appear in private? >> well, he actually did one better than that, kate. you know that. he actually said, i will appear for a deposition, as long as it's in the open. and i think that, you know, republicans stand on shaky grounds when they say he is refusing to appear to answer their questions. all he's saying is, in light of their distortion of private deposition testimony and the fact, the selective leaking he wants to make sure that not only can they and we hear his answers but the american people can too. >> there's always a negotiation -- often i should say, in coming to appear before a committee. but by the letter of the quote/unquote law if you will, didn't he defy a congressional subpoena? >> i don't think that a court is necessarily going to say he defied the subpoena when he said i'm going to appear but i'd like to do so in the open in light of past abuses of the process. i think had he said i'm not going to appear at all, i'm not going to produce any information, that would be another issue altogether. similar to what president trump did when he was being subpoenaed in past congresses. in this case, the biden family has produced tens of thousands of records. at least ten witnesses have appeared from the biden administration. i think it's probably a stretch to say they're not cooperating with the house at this point. >> you were talking about the substance that occurred or lack thereof in terms of congressional action yesterday on the floor. also happening yesterday the house passed a bipartisan resolution denouncing the troubling anti-semitism rise on campuses. the vote breakdown was 303 supporting the resolution denouncing it, 126 voting no. 84 democrats voted for this resolution, 125 democrats voted against this resolution denouncing this congressional testimony. you voted against it. why? >> i condemn the testimony but one sentence within the resolution called for basically their firing by the universities. i think that's within the province of the universities and not something that congress should be doing. i think that what they said was abho ab ab ab abhorant and i disagree with the way they approached the line of questioning. >> thank you for coming on. looking at stock futures right now. look at that, green arrows pointing up. retail sales figures just in, beating expectations. the markets open in a few minutes, will the rally continue? donald trump is not an authoritarian. he's a narcissist those words from one of the most prominent republicans in america. and remarkable reporting, clarissa ward gets inside gaza for the first time since the war began without an idf escort. >> reporter: no sooner does our tour begin when -- and this is what you hear all the time now? >> yes. at least 20 times a day. hear the opening bell on wall street after the dow soreared ta record high. the federal reserve decided not to hike rates wednesday for the final decision of the year and projects three rate cuts in 2024. it comes as a relief for wall street and a lot of americans after two years of aggressive rate hikes aimed at staving off a recession. does this tell us the economy is now going to avoid the r word? as in recession. >> yeah. so in the words of jerome powell, it is too soon to declare victory, yet. >> bah humbug. >> right. but i'll give you this, we are moving in the right direction. wall street clearly liking the fed's decision yesterday, a pause in rates and also baking in three interest rate cuts next year potentially. and the dow reacting. closing at a record high. beating what it did two years ago. so for the fed, essentially, th they're signaling they could be done with rate hikes possibility of three next year but jerome powell saying the work is not done yet. inflation is still too high, prices are still too high for americans, nothing is off the table. but in terms of rate cuts next year this is encouraging because when you cut rates mortgages become more affordable. we heard from red fin this morning that says the daily mortgage rate average dropped below 7%. we were between 7 and 8 so now below 7. and also makes it more affordable if you have student loans, car loans, credit cards. but the big question is, do these encouraging signs track with how americans feel? because we have seen that people still don't feel great about the economy. the -- in a cnn poll from november we saw most americans are still worried about the economy. and the big question is will this news translate to how people feel? you can't capture that in data you have to do surveys and polling and, of course, president biden is not going to want to see those numbers he's going to want to see better numbers so will this turn the tide for how people feel, politically? we have to caution that things can change at any moment and we need to be careful about that. this is good, things can change quickly. >> a lot of people feel like they were in the hole. so digging out of it is different than the economy looks like it's doing well. personally it may not feel that way to you. >> exactly. people want to make sure that they are feeling good about their finances and clearly right now they don't. but let's see, 2024 is just about a couple weeks away. >> dow up, gas prices down, going in the right direction. >> right direction right now. >> thank you vanessa. appreciate it. coming up for us, joe biden's national security adviser meeting right now with the israeli war cabinet and a cnn exclusive. u.s. intelligence finds half the israeli munitions dropped on gaza are imprecise dumb bombs and cnn is the first on the ground in gaza without an israeli escort what we're hearing from those inside at a field hospital there. >> reporter: the world isn't listening to us she says. nobody cares about us. we have been dying for over 60 days, dying from the bombing and nobody did anything. 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. we're just getting this for you right now. breaking news, rudy giuliani who said he was going to testify will not testify today. a spokesman for the former new york mayor confirming this to cnn a few minutes ago. giuliani originally said he was going to testify in his own defense at the defamation damages trial stemming from a case brought by two georgia election workers in federal court in washington d.c. we are following all the updates we'll bring you all we can as soon as we get them. >> that's an interesting development. this just in to cnn. national security adviser jake sullivan is in israel at this moment behind doors meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu and members of the war cabinet. also new this morning we are getting a rare look inside gaza, as cnn is the first western media outlet to get access into southern gaza and report independently. this is an extraordinary visit to a field hospital where doctors are treating young patients. cnn chief international correspondent clarissa ward was in gaza, now is in abu dhabi. tell us what you saw. >> reporter: well, john we've been trying for weeks and weeks and weeks now to get into gaza. it has not been possible for us. we've been relying on the heroic and courageous work of journalists inside gaza who have been dying in this record numbers in order to tell the stories of what's happening there. we were finally able to cross the arafa border crossing from southern egypt. on tuesday we traveled with a team of medical volunteers who are working at a field hospital that the united arab emirates, uae, has set up. this hospital is almost at capacity, they are being inundated with patients flooding in from other hospitals in the gaza strip that have simply stopped functioning and within moments of us arriving there for the visit there was a big strike nearby, casualties were brought in. i want to play you an excerpt of our story we'll be playing throughout the day. take a look. >> used to be a stadium -- >> arriving at the field hospital we meet dr. abdullah. no sooner does our tour begin when -- and this is what you hear all the time now? >> yes. at least 20 times a day. >> reporter: at least 20 times a day? >> maybe more sometimes. i think we get used to it. >> reporter: one thing none of the doctors here have gotten used to is the number of children they are treating. the u.n. estimates some two thirds of those killed in this round of the conflict have been women and children. 8-year-old janan was lucky enough to survive a strike on her family home that crushed her femur but spared her family. she said she's not in pain so that's good. her mother was out when it happened. i went to the hospital to look for her, she says. and i came here and i found her here. the doctors told me what happened with her. and i made sure that she's okay. >> reporter: they bombed the house in front of us and then our home janan tells us, i was sitting next to my grandfather and my grandfather held me and my uncle was fine so he is the one who took us out. but the doctor said it is hard not to cry. >> i work with all the people, b