presidential election, the republican's top candidate is back in court with family and finances in the spotlight. former president donald trump's daughter ivanka trump giving testimony, taking the stand as the latest with it for the prosecution in the civil fraud trial against her father. hello, welcome, i'm sandra smith in new york. >> john: i'm john roberts in washington and this is "america reports". ivanka trump taking center stage, appearing on the stand under subpoena. >> sandra: appeals court removed her as a defendant back in june because she was no longer part of the trump organization by 2016 and the statute of limitations had already expired. >> john: her appearance follows testimony by her father on monday and her two brothers last week. nate foy live outside the courthouse in new york. what's going on right there right now? >> john, sandra, good afternoon. right now the court is on lunch and ivanka trump will take the stand once again when the afternoon session begins at 2:15. so far, she's calm and composed on the witness stand, pretty aggressive questioning coming from the state attorney general's office about her involvement in securing loans as a former executive of the trump organization. specifically at the doral property, some transactions dating back to 2011, outside the statute of limitations. ivanka, a former executive, former co-defendant in the trial as you had mentioned, her brothers, eric and don, jr., and her father are co-defendants in the trial. while entering the courthouse, new york attorney general letitia james spoke about her as if she was still a defendant. listen to this. >> miss trump will do all that she can to try to separate herself from this corporation but she's tied to the trump organization and to these properties that she helped secure financing for. >> ivanka's brothers, eric and don, jr., they testified last week they had no involvement in preparing statements of financial condition, something ivanka has also said on the stand. they said they left the accounting to the company's accountants. president trump himself said under oath on monday this case should be dismissed immediately, calling attorney general games a political hack and the judge biased. trump laid out his defense on truth social writing no victims, no defaults, conservative financial statements, 100% disclaimer clause, corrupt attorney general, trump hating judge equals no case. ivanka's testimony is expected to stretch into tomorrow. trump's lawyers are going to question her as well so she does not have to come back up to new york from florida when trump's lawyers present his defense later on. back to you. >> john: we'll see if we hear from the former president's attorneys today. nate, thank you. >> senator jordan, ranking member nadler and members of the committee. >> palestinians deserve to speak on the genocide of their families. >> is the white house's view that these actions should be condemned? >> i've sort of kind of seen the reporting here and there, i'm not going to go into specifics on that particular thing. >> sandra: it is a busy afternoon in washington. any moment now, the white house press secretary karine jean-pierre is set to take questions from reporters after she once again bungled the biden response to antisemitism. anti-israel protestors disrupted a house judiciary hearing on the rising threats against jewish students across america's college campuses. the controversy comes as israeli troops are fighting in the heart of gaza city, the idf is attacking the vast network of underground tunnels used by hamas. fox team coverage from across the globe, and the breaking news from the war in the middle east. trey yingst is live in southern israel for us. where does the battle for gaza city stand at this moment, trey? >> sandra, good afternoon. the battle rages on behind me inside the gaza strip between israeli forces and hamas militants that continue to ambush those troops. israelis say the death toll among their soldiers is 31 troops since the operation began. and the israelis are pushing deeper into gaza city. we understand at this hour palestinian media reports they are within half a mile of the al-shifa hospital, the largest hospital in all of gaza and also the location the israelis say is holding hamas leadership underneath the hospital in the tunnel network under gaza. this is a difficult battle as the israelis push in. they are using air force and artillery units along the border to support infantry troops. and thousands of palestinians headed south heeding the warnings from the israelis to get out of the battle zone. some reports indicate up to 50,000 palestinian civilians took this evacuation corridor that was developed by israel on the road that runs from the northern part of the strip to the southern part. in the southern part of gaza, we do know more aid is making its way not gaza strip. israelis say more than 600 aid trucks have made it into gaza since the war began. this is a key point as israelis go back and forth with their allies and biden administration. we did question a commander about the process to get aid into gaza. take a listen. >> those trucks are coming on the crossing, taking israeli security clearance, and then by a convoy, this convoy enters to gaza to the u.n.. and we are monitoring this aid as much as we can. we said and i'm saying again, if we will see, hamas will take hold on this humanitarian aid, we will stop it. >> the aid trucks go to an israeli crossing where they are inspected and then monitored to the rafah crossing between gaza and egypt before the aid makes it to the palestinian people. >> sandra: trey, we will check back in with you shortly. thank you. >> john: a heated start to a house hearing on the growing antisemitic trend at some of the colleges and universities. several hecklers disrupted proceedings and initially prevented witnesses from speaking. eventually lawmakers did get to hear from students and experts about what they are witnessing on campuses across the country. hillary vaughn is live on capitol hill. division on full display today. >> you are right, this hearing today kicked off to kind of an ironic start, pro palestinian protestors shout over jewish college students invited by lawmakers to testify about the threats, the attacks and the antisemitism that they are experiencing on campus. but talking here today, sharing their viewpoint they found just as difficult on capitol hill as they do back on campus. these students told lawmakers that many of them have seen swastikas on campus, and don't think the schools are doing enough. and they say massive pro palestinian anti-israel protests are funded by somebody and want to follow the money. >> the protestors followed out don't understand they are playing into the hands of iran. we need to fully fund investigations into the funding that goes to antisemitism. >> but democrats say republicans need to put their money where their mouth is, saying if they really want to fight antisemitism they need to fully fund president biden's request for more money for the office of civil rights and say if the gop supports freedom of speech, they would not have censured rashida tlaib. >> she did not threaten anybody, or advocate for violence. >> but in part using the phrase from the river to the sea, part of the hamas charter and used to call for the destruction of israel and genocide of the jewish people. >> john: she declared that was an aspirational slogan. a lot of her colleagues, as well as other americans disagree with that. hillary, thank you as always, appreciate it. >> sandra: jonathan turley, constitutional law attorney, george washington university law professor and fox news contributor. great to see you. more from the pro palestinian protestors at today's hearing, listen. >> over 10,000 people have been killed and you are trying to silence free speech of students. >> i'm speaking up against genocide, because of antisemitism. how is that [bleep]. >> palestinian students cannot be censored. >> sandra: the college campuses, we see the rise in antisemitism and threats on college campuses all over. weigh in on this moment, jonathan. >> sandra, what you saw in the committee hearing is nothing new from us in academia. we have seen these types of deplatforming efforts as it's called used on campus to prevent others from hearing opposing views. that's what ripping down the hamas hostage fliers are all about. these people believe it's an exercise of free speech. one of my kids at george washington university just a few days ago saw a person walking through the campus, ripping down those hostage fliers, including in front of our law school. that sense of entitlement did not just development this week. it's really been taught to these students, and it's been taught to them, including by university professors. there are professors that believe that silencing others is a form of free speech, told them that free speech is harmful, and has to be controlled. you have major media that is now expressing shock but "new york times" published pieces by a professor who said that he was totally ok with protestors killing conservatives. so, the "new york times" which banned senator cotton had no problem in publishing people like that. so, for those of us who have been on college campuses for years and watched conservatives, libertarians, dissenting faculty, silenced, this is not new. and indeed, many of the faculty objecting have not been heard before in the last few weeks and i'm glad that we are beginning to focus on what is happening on our campuses. >> sandra: but perhaps more than just a focus on that, perhaps there will be accountability. you have now the education secretary warning schools could lose federal funds if they don't adequately fight this growing antisemitism, but the colleges are certainly under a lot of pressure in this moment. every word they say, every statement they put out, what do you believe the college campuses need to do in this moment? >> well, you know, i've said that i oppose efforts to ban palestinian groups because i believe that we need to protect free speech for everyone. and at the same time, however, people need to feel safe. a lot of the students at g.w., other campuses don't feel safe because of the rhetoric that's being used by many of these protests. and so universities have to walk that fine line, but higher education is based on free expression and free thought. and we have to be resistant to banning of groups while also insisting that groups have to refrain from threatening language, and most importantly, we need to discipline students who are tearing down fliers, preventing others from speaking. we should have been doing that for years, and we should do that now. >> sandra: it would be really interesting to see where the white house goes with this. i want to highlight obviously we are watching what's happening on capitol hill and we are about to hear from this white house who also has struggled with their messaging. we mentioned karine jean-pierre and the message from the microphone that she quickly had to then good and clarify via a statement and a tweet about her response to those that are ripping down the pictures of the kidnapped children in this country. this seems to be a moment that is highlighting a lot of where we stand as a country. young people, government officials and beyond. >> it does. yeah, it's -- for jean pierre, i was left sort of dumbfounded by that moment. why is that a tough question? you know, this particular thing that she was referring to is antisemitism, it's anti- -- efforts here are directed towards jewish people and in tearing down these fliers. put up your own fliers. there is a solution. so, it shouldn't be a tough question to support free speech while pursuing those who would deny others the chance to speak. and you know, part of -- i've been really shocked by the level of threats and reckless rhetoric we have seen on our campuses, i've talked to jewish students who are very concerned, i know some parents have asked their kids to come home because they don't have faith that the universities can protect them. we need to stop that. i mean, universities need to be a safe space for everyone to be heard and heard respectfully. >> sandra: bari weiss said it's power to a movement that threaten not just jews but america itself. incredible piece in this moment. jonathan, thank you so much. we have some breaking news to get to. >> john: indeed, let's go to the white house where john kirby, the national security council spokesman is talking about getting americans out of gaza as he takes questions at the daily briefing. jump in here. update at the crossing at rafah, more than 80 trucks crossed, total 650, again not enough, we will work to push that and as of now, aware of more than 400 americans and family members who have been able to depart and support of our embassy on the ground and egypt. there have been no change in that number since yesterday. so, no more u.s. citizens or family members got out since the last time -- since yesterday when i was up here talking to you guys. i thought i would give you an update. that's it. >> is there a reason why more americans have not left and do you have an update on the number of americans still in gaza now. >> the fact that we know we have 400 or so out so far, that leaves a population of about 5 to 600 left when you count family members in there. so, we are working to get them all out, obviously. and the reason why changes every day. i mean, as i said before, this is a dynamic situation. sometimes it's the vetting process, sometimes it's obstacles, not physical obstacles but policy obstacles that hamas might throw up. so, we are confident the flow will continue, but as i've said before, we shouldn't comfort ourselves in thinking that every day it's going to be sort of a similar approach and a similar number and some sort of similar sense of ease here every day. it has to be worked almost all over again. >> and you mentioned the comments earlier today. where he said that post war environment palestinian-led governance in gaza unified under -- unified with the west bank under palestinian authority. is that the stated policy of the united states that gaza and west bank need to be reunified control, and they can control what is the final governance structure in gaza so who controls what will happen in gaza. united states, is it israel, is it the palestinian people. >> it's, as the secretary said, we want to make sure that gaza and the west bank are for the palestinian people, and that they have a vote, they have a voice that they get to be the determining factor in what governance looks like where they are living in their homes. and that remains our policy and will going forward. what does the governance structure look like and when does it get put in place and who are the players that are going to help, all that we are working out. those are all the questions we are asking ourselves and the questions we are asking of our partners. i can't stand here today and tell you that this is exactly what the structure is going to be, but that is -- that is what we are trying to drive to is a process to get answers to those questions. >> secretary blinken was said there was a final -- a goal in mind, unified control of gaza and the west bank under the palestinian authority. is that not u.s. policy? >> we believe the palestinians should be in charge of their future and they should be the determining voice and factor in their future. >> can you confirm the president and prime minister netanyahu discussed a three-day humanitarian pause when they spoke most recently, and if so, how are discussions going? >> i can't confirm those reports. i can confirm in almost every conversation that we are having with the israelis right now, we are talking about the benefit of humanitarian pauses and again, you saw the g7 foreign ministers also unite around that idea. >> how are discussions on that going? >> we are continuing to have those discussions. i don't have an update for you. i would remind that there are and already been a couple of small humanitarian pauses to allow people to get out, including a small number of hostages who have been released. this is not a now idea but something we believe should be continued, to continue to be pursued. >> comments refer to a "transition period" after this conflict. could you expand on that and explain what does a transition period look like to this administration? >> i think he was referring to this idea, and came up yesterday, where prime minister netanyahu talked about an indefinite period on the ground. i think he was referring to the idea, the fact that in the immediate aftermath of conflict it's certainly plausible that at least for some period of time israeli defense forces are still going to be in gaza to manage the immediate aftermath and security situation but that nothing has changed about our view, it shouldn't be the long-term solution, about an idf reoccupation of gaza as a long-term governance solution. >> one additional question. the u.n. commissioner for human rights said after visiting the rafah border he was witnessing the gates to a living nightmare and he said that while hamas, what it did on october 7th was a war crime, he also has concerns about the collective punishment of palestinians, amounting to a war crime. what is the administration response and what he would say. >> without responding directly to every comment made by every official around the world, i would just tell you that we are watching these events as closely as we can, of course, we are in constant touch with our israeli counterparts. we are not going to react to every event on the battlefield but we are continuing to stress to our israeli counterparts, and you heard from secretary blinken as early as today, cautious, careful and deliberate as possible and avoid taking civilian life as much as they can and the prosecution of the operations. now, you had asked me yesterday about golan heights. so i just wanted to be fair here. there has been no change in our position on the golan heights. i think secretary blinken talked in february of 21, no change in the policy as long as the situation in syria remains as it is, we understand that israel has legitimate security needs there in the golan heights. so no change, no policy change. >> is the palestinian authority capable of letting gaza now, once the fighting backs down. >> i don't know now, we have a final solution here on how gaza will be governed, steve. and obviously the palestinian authority would have to be a part of that discussion from the get-go, and as well as with other regional partners. but w wee that solution set now. what we do believe, as secretary blinken said, the palestinian people should be in charge of their destiny and future. >> and when you are trying to get american hostages out, how does that work? are you in direct contact with hamas? >> some of our partners do and helpful in that regard. >> any progress to note? >> i had no specific progress to announce or speak to today, other than that we continue to be focused on trying t get all the hostages out, all of them. and in order to do that, as we saw with the first four that got out, two americans and two israelis a couple days later, there were -- there was enough of a pause in the fighting to allow for their safe passage, and that's what we are trying to get cemented, an agreement for as many pauses as might be necessary to get all of them out. but it's a delicate negotiating process and we are still working at it. >> on that note, john, and thanks for coming again, by the way. should we be thinking about humanitarian pauses in the context of hostages, because you referenced the last time the prime minister agreed to some, it was to allow hostages out. or are there othe