donald trump clearly engaged in insurrection to overturn the 2020 loss. even that does not bar him from running in this state. we will try to make sense of this stunning ruling in just a moment. we are also live on the ground in israel as the onslaught against gaza continues, differing accounts of what is going on at al-shifa hospital. we are monitoring a news conference from israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, and we will have the very latest in a moment on that. nbc news exclusive reveals two very different messages, the president is sending out to people who write to him. depending on where they stand on the israel-hamas war. plus, fear and failure for elon musk today. he is facing a backlash over his own antisemitic tweet on x. backlash that now includes the white house and some top advertisers. latest spacex launch coming up in flames today in texas. very latest, much more on both of those mosques stories ahead. we want to begin with a stunning and landmark decision in colorado by judge sarah b. wallace, ruling that although trump did engage in an insurrection on january 6th, the disqualification clause of section three of the 14th amendment that would have kept him off the ballot does not apply to him in this case. judge wallace wrote this, the court concludes that trump incited an insurrection on january 6th, 2021 and therefore engaged in insurrection within the meaning of section three of the 14th amendment. she goes on to say this, for section three of the 14th amendment to apply to trump in this court, they must find that both the presidency is an office, quote unquote, under the united states, and that trump took an oath as an officer of the united states. to support the constitution of the united states. part of the court's decision, as she goes on, is its reluctance to embrace an interpretation which would quiz qualify a presidential candidate without a clear, unmistakable indication that such is the intent of section three. here is colorado secretary of state janet griswold's reaction on velshi earlier today. >> the idea that any official who would engage in insurrection would be barred from taking office except the president -- except the presidency, that is incredibly surprising. it means the presidency is a get out of jail free card for insurrection. as someone who cares deeply about the state of our democracy, i find that very troubling. >> joining me now, former u.s. attorney and former deputy assistant attorney, general harry litman, to talk more about this. this is actually the first ruling, essentially, stating he engaged in insurrection. judge luttig was on air earlier today, essentially said of course he was an officer of the united states under the constitution. what is your reaction to this ruling? what does the judge have to say about it? >> the headline clearly is, the part you're saying, having engaged in insurrection, no other court had done that. if you think about, it is a step on the road, if we get to the end of the road, that had to happen. this is what trial courts do. she held a one-week-long trial. she considered evidence from both sides. if this issue we're in a higher court, they might opine on what it means to have an insurrection, what it means to engage in. they could not make the ultimate finding that now has been made. it now goes on to the court of repeal. it is true that, as the end, she blinked and said this officer issue, it was not as i understood the colorado secretary of state's disappointment, but it is a very close textual reading. it's probably a week one, but it's not crazy. the bigger point is this, a court of appeal can easily say we agree with everything she said, but we disagree with this final interpretation of what it means to be an officer. you can see it here, it is not listed on the other hand, could the framers really have meant that if jefferson davis wanted to become president of the united states and -- in 1870, he could have? that would be the argument. and it's an argument that had to happen in order for this to go and succeed. the final point here, jasmine, only the u.s. supreme court, the only way this supreme court eventual e embraces it. you can't have trump off the ballot in colorado and on everywhere else. so if the court above this now says we agree with her, and we defer to her findings, but we disagree and reversed on this very -- it's a sleeper issue. the plaintive spent a third of a page of 100-page brief on it. if they now reverse, now it is set up to go to the u.s. supreme court. and again, unless something like this had happened, all hundred pages of it, we would not have been even out of the gate on this issue. now we are out of the gate on this issue. >> so you're saying this could go to the u.s. supreme court? judge luttig saying he doesn't think the colorado state supreme court will overturn the judges decision here. what is your take on that? >> i think he says it will. on this little legal issue. i think he thinks that the higher court will take up everything she said, okay, this is all right on insurrection, okay on engaged, most importantly we defer to all of the facts here, trump's intent, et cetera, and then judge luttig is saying that small point at the end is -- he thinks it's ludicrous. i wouldn't go that far, but if the colorado supreme court agrees with him he thinks that they will reverse that part. that means reverse the bottom line, jasmine. and actually hold that he has disqualified. it would be at that point that the supreme court would have to jump in and luttig said from the start, the only way this succeeds and runs the full course is if it goes to the u.s. supreme court. without it, an opinion like this, the supreme would obviously have said we can't go in on the facts. now they can defer to this on the facts. >> harriet, just talk about the significance of the ruling that in fact a former president of the united states engaged in a insurrection, what does that mean legally for donald trump going forward? >> it could mean legally that he is out if only a higher court finds that he in fact was an officer of the united states under the meaning. it was by far the more important issue. she comes to a legal judgment of what an insurrection is, court of appeals might not agree with, it the supreme court, she gets involved in a way that the supreme court might say, as every other court has so far, this is not for us. but this is the necessary and real seismic ruling. yes, he engaged -- his first amendment claim is wrong. in an insurrection. this is 95% of what an opinion disqualifying him would look like -- -- . the extra 5% is something that a higher court could do, where is they couldn't do the part that she has now done. they could not adjudicate it. it is really big in ways that mainly go against trump. >> harry litman for us, thank, you harry, we appreciate you. >> in israel, benjamin netanyahu and other israeli officials have just kicked off a press conference. you could see benny gets there. israel says the military is expanding operational activities in additional neighborhoods. amidst those questions about who really ordered the evacuation of al-shifa hospital in northern gaza, i want to bring in nbc news correspondent, jay gray, to talk more about all of that. during this press conference happening live here in israel, just see what comes out of it, but if you will, jay, walk us through much of the developing that has happened over the last 24 hours? what can you tell us also about this controversy over al-shifa hospital, what are we learning? >> yasmin, you are absolutely right. yasmin, youa lot is unfolding w here. the initial comments from prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, much of what we have heard in the past from netanyahu, talking about the dedication of his soldiers, the fact that they are winning and that they will continue this war until they have an ultimate victory. he said their goal is to rescue the hostages and to eliminate hamas. he used the word annihilate hamas. he will not -- he will make sure that hamas is not a threat again. we also heard from the idf that they are now officially, in what they say, is the next stage of this war. as you talked about, they are moving, moving to the east, moving to the south as well. we have really seen the footprints start to expand. some of the fighting in those dense, heavily populated neighborhoods still in the north as they continue to move forward. we have seen airstrikes today to the south. we've also seen school facilities that were hit. hamas is saying that dozens were killed in that strike. the idf, to this, point has not commented on that situation it'll. it is clear that this war is shifting a bit and moving as we have talked about. when it comes to al-shifa, the hospital, we have seen over the last 24 hours hundreds of people leaving the facility. doctors there say that that is on the order of troops on the ground, that israeli soldiers have told them that they have got to leave. the idf has countered saying that it's not the case, they said they continue to bring aid into the hospital. medicine, food, incubators for some of the babies. they say they have not told anyone to leave their. they are still on the ground, they are still going through that hospital with special forces. they found ammunition, they found weapons, they found technical infrastructure, they found tunnels. what they have not located to this point is any command and control center. the u.s. intelligence, along with the israeli intelligence, has said it is their. what the idf is saying is just going to take, yasmin, some time to find all of that. >> jay gray for us. we will continue to monitor the press conference on the ground with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. we will bring you news as we get it. thank you, jay, we appreciate. it sticking to israel, but really the political messaging happening in the united states, this new nbc exclusive reporting involving president biden's response to the israel hamas war and how it's being communicated. the white house is sending out very different messages to pro palestinian and pro israel americans. that is according to letters shared with nbc news. we want to bring in jonathan allen, one of the reporters who approved the story. before i get to you, jonathan, i want to make clear to viewers just how different these messages someone receives from the president ar depending on where you stand on this war. it is not just a few slight ks. from jonathan's reporting, those who are pro israel get a response that includes, quote, the people of israel live through a moment of pure evil that resurfaced horrible memories and amounted to the deadliest day for jews since the united states stan whes. israel, he continues, we will continue to ensure that israel has what it needs to defend itself against terrorism in accordance with international law. if you are pro palestinian, however, you get a very different letter that includes no references to evil, the holocaust or american support for israel. it condemns terrorism and hamas, and then continues with this. we mourn the manyent palestinians who have been killed, he goes on to explain that it is why his administration is working osy with partners to ensure the lifesaving assistance, including food, water and medicine, can urgently reach innocent palestinians in gaza. jonathan allen, again, great to talk to you about this. talk me through if this is something with your extensive reporting that is normal, with a divisive war like this going on. when it comes to the messaging, the communication coming from the white house? >> that is the perfect question, has been. the truth is, according to the white house and according to people who have worked in the office before and prior administrations, when you have a complicated controversial issue that will be two different letters that go out to people who write to the white house about that issue. what this is, though, as you point out, the text of these letters is almost entirely divergent and basically if you are pro palestinian, you are concerned about what is going on in the gaza strip, that is the concern you expressed, you get a letter that does not talk about how the president stands with israel, does not talk about how -- comparing october 7th to the holocaust. if you are somebody who worries about israel and its right to defend itself, you are not going to get -- you get a letter that says that the president is trying to limit the loss of civilian life, but the letter you get when he talks about the hatred he wants to prevent various people from being subjected to, your letter does not include the term palestinians in that place in the letter that goes out to the pro palestinian people. very different letters here. i think that you would normally see -- more than you would normally see. none of it is inconsistent with the presidents policies, but he says one side of the position to one side of the people and then another side of the position to another side of people that is just overlap maybe a little bit on, say, condemning hamas and wanting to protect innocent civilians. >> so while the president is doing a lot of different things at the same time, monitoring the humanitarian crisis unfolding in gaza that we watch every single day, also obviously recognizing the terrorism that happened in israel on the 1200 israeli lives lost and condemning hamas. how much of this is driven by the politics? coming up on an election year, seeing how divided the american public is on what is actually happening within this war. >> i'm not sure exactly how to quantify how much of it was driven by the politics. what is clear, two things, one, americans, in addition to so many people in the middle east, are hurting. whether they are concerned about civilian lives in gaza or most concerned about the terrace attack on the israelis, and the continuing threat of rocket fire and other potential acts of terrorism in israel. there's a lot of people hurting in the united states about that. that is one piece of. it the other side of that is you have a divided democratic party. you e this division for isra a the palestinians exacerbated and explosive, it's a threat to biden's coalition. this is something that is an electoral imperative for him, to be able to keep both sides of that on board with his politics going into next november. >> jonathan allen, as always, we are thankful for you. coming up everybody, and just excuse seconds, a tumultuous week for elon musk. i double spacex explosion this morning plus multiple major corporations pulling ads from twitter over his support of an antisemitic post. we will be right back. we will be right back. one bank for now. for later. for life. chase. make more of what's yours. shingles. some describe it as an intense burning sensation, or an unbearable itch. this painful, blistering rash can disrupt your life for weeks and could make it hard to be there for your loved ones. shingles could also lead to serious complications that can last for years. if you're over 50, the virus that causes shingles is likely already inside you. and as you age, your risk of developing shingles increases. don't wait. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingles today. (bobby) my store and my design business? we're exploding. ask your doctor or pharmacist but my old internet, was not letting me run the show. so, we switched to verizon business internet. they have business grade internet, nationwide. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon. a major launch everybody for spacex. instead of one giant leap for mankind it was more like one step forward and two steps back. watch this. >> three, two, one. >> that is not how it was supposed to go. that was the next generation starship mega rocket launching earlier today, almost 400 foot tall crewless rocket lifted off for its second test flight. unfortunately, spacex lost contact with the proportion known as starship, ten minutes after lift off. spacex says the rocket booster exploded moments after separating from starship, describing it as a rapid unscheduled disassembly. we will have much more on what happened in a live report coming up. you will want to miss that conversation. we're monitoring followed continuing from elon musk on another front, his company x, formerly known as twitter, a number of media companies like apple, disney, they're pulling their advertising dollars from social media sites including comcast, the parent company of this network. it also started after he embraced the antisemitic conspiracy theory earlier in the week. the biden administration condemns those comments, we want to bring in nbc's erin guild, to talk more about this. erin, if you, will walk us through exactly how the white house is reacting to do this this afternoon. >> the white house has been the latest to weigh in on this controversy. issuing a real rebuke of this post by elon musk. in fact, i will back up a bit, he was actually replying to another user posting something on x that is often a repeated conspiracy theory that we hear that says, essentially, jews promote a hatred of white people. and his response to that post, elon musk said you have said the actual truth. of course, that generated millions of views on the social media platform. the white house put out a stemt yesterday, we will put it up on the screen to see exactly what the white house spokesperson had to say, quote, condemn thisabhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as americans. this is something the essence of which we have heard from president biden himself as well on this. as you mentioned, the response in the business world has been swift as well. we have seen a number of media companies and particular pull their advertising from acts, from that platform. you mentioned apple, ibm, warner bros., paramount, comcast of course, the parent company of nbc universal. musk last night wrote on his platform that ex corporal be filing a thermal nuclear lawsuit, he said. that is in response to the fallout here, saying this is an attempt to undermine free speech. what he is seeing from media companies, media outlets in particular. this is an incident that has generated a lot of headlines, yasmin, because we know that after the october 7th attack by hamas and israel there's been an uptick in antisemitic incidents as well as islamophobia incidents here in the united states, really and around the world. this is something president biden has spoken out about gantz, his administration has spoken out against it over the last several weeks and will continue to do so as necessary, yasmin. >> seems like musk repeatedly points to free speech when in fact he is promoting hate speech. aaron gilchrist for us, thank you. nikki haley's attempts to soften her stance on abortion rights runs into some trouble. plus, the new efforts to boot congressman george santos from the white house, from the house i should say, after an ethics report that is shocking and it's detail of how he spent campaign cash. just a day after explosive allegations about sean didi combs, that includes sex trafficking and abuse, the settlement shuts it all down. we will be right back. when you have chronic kidney disease... ...there are places you'd like to be. like here. and here. not so much here. farxiga reduces the risk of kidney failure which can lead to dialysis. ♪far-xi-ga♪ farxiga can cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, urinary tract or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. when you have chronic kidney disease