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"the beat" with ari melber starts now. >> welcome to "the beat." i'm ari melber. in just a few moments we are going to get into what became a heated and sometimes significant day in the fraud trial of donald trump's organization. in fact, two of his adult children, executives, testified. you see don junior going in there. that's new today, and we have the update on what is a significant set of what is testimony that seems to hurt the trump org in that quarter million dollars fraud trial. when there's news off the middle east war we'll bring you that. we have updates off gaza. earlier the skyline filled with explosions and flares, signs of what we can make sense of, what seems to be the widening escalation that was discussed, and we have news on what "the new york times" is reporting israel is doing at this hour. the military there according to "the new york times" says they have encircled gaza city and they're fighting, quote, face-to-face battles with hamas. the israeli prime minster says we're, quote, beyond the outskirts of gaza city. you have a pause in the direct fighting to allow for more humanitarian aid. secretary blinken raising that issue, we are told, when he'll arrive for another one of these diplomatic trips tomorrow. what we see in the sky and that reporting in part from the military. we want to go to hala gorani, live from tel aviv. what are you seeing at this hour? >> well, it is a significant uptick in the military activity. we saw flares. we're seeing aerial bombardments. we're seeing also artillery coming from land and sea, it appears. this looks like it is still stage two of the offensive. it is not a situation where we're seeing the israeli military entering gaza city. they are saying they're encircling gaza city, and there's a huge distinction there, because once you get into the densely populated areas you're talking about street by street, house by house, perhaps even door to door fighting, and this is not something that's happening yet. this is really one of hundreds of steps that we will see unfold in the future militarily in gaza, and in fact, the israeli military and the leadership in this country has prepared the people of israel as well as all of us following the story that this is not going to be a short battle or short war. it could take weeks, could take months. on the diplomatic front you mentioned benjamin netanyahu. tweeted a picture of himself surrounded by israeli soldiers saying that essentially this is going to be -- i want to get his words exactly right -- today with our fighters in the field, we have very impressive successes. we are already more than on the outskirts of gaza city. you mentioned the secretary of state antony blinken who's saying these going to be, quote, challenging times. he'll be visiting the region tomorrow, including israel as well as other parts of the middle east during a diplomatic trip that will be very important. but it's very significant, this development today, but it is not that big offensive inside of the urban warfare environment that we have been anticipating over the last few weeks. that will be a completely different challenge for the military, ari. >> and hala, when we hear the israeli government emphasize this, how do you interpret that in the region? there are times when some things have been secretive, as you mentioned, both the idf, the prime minster have voiced this, are putting this out there tonight. how do you interpret that? >> interpreting -- i'm sorry, the fact that they're saying they're encircling rather than entering? >> well, definitely if you want to walk us through that, but i was asking specifically -- i know we're going thousands of miles so i'll just repeat. when we see that israel as a government is emphasizing the operation, they're touting it while it is in progress, what does that mean? what are they going? >> well, i think what they're saying is they're signaling to the people of israel that it is ongoing and something that will happen incrementally step by step and they're not considering any cessation of hostihostiliti. quite the contrary. despite the fact we're hearing president biden floating the idea that a pause in hostilities could be necessary for -- in order to allow for humanitarian aid to get through, for hostages to get released and more nationals to exit the gaza strip. i think that's really the messaging coming from the israeli government. we're doing it, we're going in, but we're doing it incrementally and we're doing it carefully, and this is not what we anticipated after october 7th, this massive ground vault which afterall was promised by the leaders following the hamas attack. the plan now seems to be to take it more slowly. this is what they're advertising to their people and also to their allies. >> understood. hala gorani reporting here just past midnight in tel aviv israel. thank you very much for that report. as mentioned we have another top story tonight in addition to getting the latest out of the middle east, and that is this reckoning in court for the business empire of donald trump , his children arriving in court today. his children facing grillings under oath about how they managed the company, that especially includes the period while their father was in the. you see don junior going up the steps today. eric trump also testified about the alleged fraud. these witness executives deny playing an immediate role in hard parts of the company's finances. today to key clashes were over dodging and distance they tried to pursue while the a.g.'s lawyers hit back with receipts, trying to oppose the spin or contradictions as the judge will ultimately decide this case. don junior was on the stand for the second day in a row. the lawyers tried to use his answers to show to the judge how he was responsible, they argued, for personally signing off on the alleged fraud. and when he say signing off, i can tell you today based on what happened in court, we mean quite literally signing off, because lawyers from the a.g.'s office has his signature on these documents. he deflected on what the signature means, not saying i didn't sign, but the signature was only a response to the accountants and their work and their numbers, which hetrusted. a key moment we wt to report is the judge intervened directly, asking, did you have anything to do witthe statements of financial condition? and here we seehe deflection. donunr saying, i signed it, but no, i did not, your honor, actually deal with the statement. now, let me tell you something -- this tension here in this trial on this point is not unique to this case. the trump org is accused of pushing far past it into outright fraud. many cases will feature executives putting up these defenses, that they are paper pushers and it's the accountants or lawyers or others they rely on make these calls. don junior spoke after his testimony essentially referring to that argument and saying, if you look at this logically, he says this is how business is done. >> you know what? i think it went really well if we were actually dealing with logic and reason the way business is conducted, but unfortunately the attorney general has brought forth a case that is purely a political persecution. >> two points there in that brief statement. one, this is how business is done. again, the judge will be deciding whether these sound like typical legal business practices or not. the second point is what his father defendant trump argued across all these cases, that any case against trump is a political persecution and that the reason, they argue, defendant trump is drowning in these cases isn't his conduct or the trail of evidence he left behind or signatures on alleged fraud that you saw today, but rather these prosecutors, they argue, are on some sort of political mission. defendants can raise questions about the government's motivation, about why a case was brought, why investigations occurred. they can ask, is there evidence of misconduct or political targeting? they can certainly ask and raise those issues. but notice tonight where -- precisely where don junior raised this point today. not in court, not with his lawyers, not with evidence. no, out of court to the press as a kind of talking point. but in these courtrooms i can report for you tonight trump's lawyers have not been able to summon actually evidence to prove any prosecutorial misconduct. they haven't proven this against any of these officials some, that's don junior, and that is the second day of testimony where he said it went well and logical. others think that basically the a.g. scored some points. meanwhile, this is one of those things that, yes, some people are tired. i mentioned, some people get confused. which trump case are we following? some of this is getting into the wider culture. late night tv keeping an eye on what has finally become the reckoning. you don't see donald trump or others in the cases. when he took the stand about the gag order that's the first time. this is jimmy kimmel's take last night. >> don junior was not at daddy donald's last night. he was being grilled in the $250 million case against the business. there he is, tiny soprano. i wonder what's going through his head right now. >> i should have worn makeup. >> here's the good thing about don junior, what he lacks in intelligence, he also lacks in charisma. >> jimmy kimmel unloading there. you can hear some of the applause. as a legal matter it is not the intelligence or charisma that's on trial. oh, i just signed this, i just signed that. we just took the numbers in. we never created the numbers. those are claims. they're going to be tested in this trial. it was the same for eric trump who took the stand for very first time today. he faced withering cross-examination. i want to walk through what we learned in his testimony and why people say it's going to help in the case against trump. we're back on that point in just one win. to wrap up the fun and round up the gang. to help get you ready, your aspen dental team is celebrating 25 years of affordable care with an epic anniversary savings event. right now, new patients without insurance get a free full exam and x-rays. plus, everyone can get 20% off their treatment plan. but hurry, because while the season won't last, the memories you make together will. aspen dental. book today. announcer: try tide power pods with 85% more tide in every pod. who needs that much more tide? 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(crowd cheers) sore throat got your tongue? mucinex instasoothe sore throat medicated drops. uniquely formulated for rapid relief that lasts and lasts. that's my babyyy! -ow! get mucinex instasoothe. it's comeback season. as the trial continued today, it foxed on the seven springs property, in upstate new york. we saw the visuals before people took the stand, but the younger mr. trump has actually reflected on this estate on camera before. >> this place is really special to myself, really special to my brother, my father, really the whole family. it's really our compound. i've spent so much of my life here. it's a special place for me, one i'll always remember and one i'll be close to. >> that's some footage there from the archives. it's perfectly fine that eric trump thinks that property is special. >> the legal issue is how the company gave it a nearly $300 million valuation about a decade ago. it is now worth about 10% a that today, even with inflation, according to forbes. that is tough fraud evidence because unlike the stock exchange, where sometimes even pricey stocks, the stocks can crash -- lose most of their net worth. doesn't mean there was fraud. means you crashed. but honestly price real estate doesn't drop by a third or two-thirds, let alone 90%. eric trump dealt with this today by denying heeld create those misleading valuations. quote, i don't think i ever saw or worked on a statement of financial condition. i don't believe i would have known about it. it's not what i did. he testified. at one point there was an angry clash and he raised his voice when pressed on this matter. there's also newly revealed deposition video we have that goes to the same defense about downplaying his role. >> i just don't seem to recall anything about this. you know, it's -- i pour concrete. i operate properties. i don't focus on -- appraisals. >> again, if you have one big takeaway here, it's that eric trump through his lawyers learned one of the dangers is appraisals. knows about. but the a.g.'s lawyers show an email from about a decade ago addressed to eric trump looking at how seven springsas actually valued. i'm working on o dad's annual financial statement. i need to value seven springs. let me know when you have time to talk. through the cross-examination today mr. trump then says, it appears that way regarding the financial statements, it appears that's what it says, yes, when faced with this evidence that, guess what, he was discussing the valuations. now, eric trump is admitting right there what he had tried to walk away from including in that deposition. now, he will continue testifying tomorrow followed by his sister ivanka and defendant donald trump next week. there are cases that could land donald trump in prison if he were convicted. this one is not one of those cases. it's civil as you heard people emphasize, but trump is clearly concerned about this fraud case. he's publicly attacked officials, he got himself a gag order. he's been talking outside of court in ways that he didn't in other cases. and that's a big point tonight. it's partly because trump's supposed business acumen and empire is so central to his pr and political identity. it's maybe t through line or obsession that united all those different parts of his public life. it is the story. the a.g. says a fraudulent story that powered his fame and his magazine covers and stoked more business deals and tv deals. trump has long been obsessed with what you saw on the screen, inflating his fortune to be on the big list, to make the list of forbes' richest people, he's dropped from that list lately amidst these problems. so trump is descending from business deals to watching aids cut plea deals, from the alleged fraud that helped him get on that forbes list to now being his own version of the most wanted list. trump's bad karma has basically shown him to be pulling a reverse meek mill, the successful artist who recounted coming up from nothing. we started on the list most wanted. now it's the forbess list. from informants i think they're recording. trump fell off the forbes list. he has a case with the feds and now he has inform manhattans in his crew, like former aide jenna ellis. to be clear, she's testifying in a different case than the fraud trial. she is testifying in the georgia rico case. as for those meek mill lyrics, they are from a song called "rico". you can't make it up. we will dig into this -- the testimony, the flipping, the feds touchdown forbes list, the most wanted list -- with prosecutor nick akerman right after this. man right after this you're replacing me? customize and save with liberty bibberty. he doesn't even have a mustache. only pay for what u ed. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ ( ♪♪ ) with the push of a button, constant contact's ai tools help you know what to say, even when you don't. hi! constant contact. helping the small stand tall. 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[ cheers ] yeah! woho! running up and down that field looks tough. it's a pitch. get way more into what you're into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. we're back with former watergate prosecutor nick akerman. following a fraud trial today, nick, i did a breakdown. a lot's happened. we're trying to give viewers updates each day. the big questions today, are the executives involved in the valuations or not? >> they certainly are. there's no question that that has come out. you've got two brothers basically who are running the company. one who's signing off the on the financials saying they're true and accurate but yet he's blaming the accountants and lawyers for the falsities on those statements, and you've got to other brother who's involved in the nitty-gritty of running the company to claims he doesn't know anything. if you dig a little deeper here you'll find these defenses really don't pass the smell test. if you start with don junior, he claims that he relied exclusively on the attorneys and the lawyers. well, first of all we have had testimony in this case from attorneys and lawyers. we have michael cohen, accountants that testified, basically saying they were instructed by donald trump to up the numbers on various assets that appeared on the financial statements. secondly, don junior as the executive who was signing off on these financial statements, had a certain responsibility to conduct due diligence on whether or not these numbers were valid or not. i mean, after enron in the 2001 scam that occurred there, the government came in and basically the s.e.c. and federal law requires at least as the public companies that officers, either the executive ceo or the cfo, have to sign off on the financials, basically attesting to their validity and truth and that they've done due diligence to make sure that the numbers on there are fair and accurate. now, donald -- even though it doesn't apply to a private company like trump organization, basically this has become the form of corporate governance that all companies have adopted, and you can see it just in the financial statements that were signed by don junior. for example, both he and weisselberg signed off on those financial statements representing, quote, that they he valuated the adequacy and results of the services performed, closed quote, by the accountants and by the lawyers, and that they, quote, accepted responsibilit