the past, that challenge goes up exponentially with artificial intelligence tools. >> senator mark warner, thank you so much. that does it for us. "chris jansing reports" starts right now. good day, i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. courtroom or campaign stop, donald trump's message is the same. the former president blasting the judge, the attorney general and the legal system outside his civil fraud trial. it may work as a political strategy, but what about a legal one? plus, the suspect in the shooting at unlv identified as the man who was once turned down for a job there. latest on what we know and the horrific sense of deja vu or a community that went through the worst mass shooting in u.s. history and now has to heal all over again. and our new investigation into how incredibly difficult it is for families to get justice if their loved ones are killed, not by local police but by federal officers. why is it so hard to get even information let alone a conviction? more on our nbc news special investigation coming up. but we begin with donald trump and his belief that increasingly his court dates and campaign the appearances are serving the same purpose, to convince his supporters he's in an all or nothing battle with what he calls the wicked people who have taken control of our once great country. speaking outside the courtroom where his civil fraud trial is taking place today, trump did what he's done repeatedly in the two months since that trial began, proclaimed his innocence and play the victim. >> we put on a case that it's absolutely 100% -- there's not a judge in the country that wouldn't have given us a total victory, but there's not a judge in the country that would have even taken this case. this is a witchhunt, and it's a very corrupt trial. the attorney general sits here because she knows that she has a judge and no matter all the evidence, that judge is going to rule in her favor. >> msnbc legal analyst lisa rubin just left the court. tim miller is writer at large for the bulwark and an msnbc political analyst, harry litman is former deputy assistant attorney general and host of "talking feds podcast." great to have all of you here. so lisa, court just broke for lunch. what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, this morning's testimony has been from a man named elitov. his testimony here is equivalent to a one-e person pep rally for donald trump's view of this case. eli bartov is essentially saying all valuation is inherently subjective. it's an art, not a science, and therefore there was nothing materially wrong with trump's financial statements. he pointed to a single error with respect to trump's triplex. he said if you wanted to -- you would continue to perm perpetrate the fraud at $180 million instead of correcting your mistake. at the very end of today's court session right before lunch, the attorney general's office objected to an answer that mr. bartov gave saying he had gone well beyond the scope of his expertise and was instead saying whatever the trump folks were paying him to say. that got mr. bartov really hot under the collar, and he screamed essentially saying like you're indecent. i can't remember the exact quote, but he was outraged. never a dull day here at the trump civil fraud trial! so trump supporters have argued that it's unfair that trump has to be in court instead of campaigning, and in fact, while lisa was coming out, he was coming out too and trump just said to cameras walki, they're keeping me here instead of in iowa and new hampshire which is a direct contradic to what he said in an email today where he argued that showp in court is a kind of campaigning. what this emailays is, quote, every time voters see me show up at a courthouse or a jail, whether it's for a sham arrest, a trial, or even a mug shot, they're reminded just how corrupt our government has become and how desperately we need a new president in the white house. >> well, contradictory, let's talk about the email. does he have a point there? we know he didn't have to be in court today. >> yeah, well, in the email there's some lies in there. he also stumbled on a true admission, which is unusual for donald trump, which is that he does see this as campaigning. he didn't have to be there today. he doesn't want to go to iowa. he is an elderly man, we should remember that. he enjoys the finer things. he likes to sleep in his gaudy apartment in new york. he likes to sleep in bedminster, and he likes to sleep in mar-a-lago. he doesn't like to go to iowa or new hampshire. he sees himself as having a huge lead in the polls. i'm sure we'll talk about the debate later in this hour. he sees that as not really relevant, and his presence there making -- diminishing that, or his lack of presence there diminishing that, and he sees this as the central part of his campaign. i'm your retribution. i am sticking my finger in the eye of these new york elites that are trying to jail me. this is the heart of his campaign, and it is how he will be spending his time campaigning for the foreseeable future. >> all right, harry, let's go back to what actually the legal part of this is, since tim has summarized so well the politics of this, and as we heard, it's been a lot of the offense witnesses in the last couple of weeks who things like former executives, bank executives, financial experts, saying the kinds of things that lisa just said we heard today and kind of at one point, the judge back that had up. he said, quote, if there's one thing we've learned over the last eight weeks, it is that banks like billionaires. does that matter? is that relevant to the heart of his case, harry? >> not a whit. legally it's not relevant because whatever an accounting professor wants to say about valuations, the charge is having lied. you can lie when you make exorbitant valuations. the whole defense case seven a little bit puzzling, chris. he knows, trump just said himself in public, he's going to lose and he's going to lose because the judge engoron is the one acting as jury and is going to make the decisions. after he loses, it goes up to the next court and the next court will say was there a reasonable basis to find against him. and anything that's coming out now including his prospective testimony on monday doesn't change that fact. so it really serves only a political purpose, and in fact, it's got some danger because if he does testify, he'll be subject to cross examination and probably not as last time when he testified just letting him go on and on. but very pointed questions. you knew this was false, didn't you, mr. trump, et cetera. so there's really only a political purpose here, and it's anyone who can, you know, knows the law a little bit would see there's not much basis for him or much of any of this testimony on defense. yes, banks like billionaires, so what. engoron's going to rule against him. >> you say if he does testify, he says he's going to, right? maybe he believes, i mean, he feels so strongly that what he's saying is right that he can convince anybody that he's right. but what do you make of this, again, as a legal strategy, his being the last voice the defense puts on the stand? >> it's a name for him to testify. and remember, trump was going to testify and he didn't. if he does, it's because he wants to do it for political reasons but anything he'll say on direct about the magnificence of the trump empire really is irrelevant, and he could really be pushed to the wall by an adept cross examiner. it's not smart, knowing as he does -- he said it hills and everybody in the courtroom i'm sure, lisa, would affirm knows that the decision is going against him by justice engoron. >> tim, i want to shift gears here a little bit because it's going -- today is the eighth anniversary of donald trump proposing a muslim ban. it seems like maybe eight decades ago. msnbc is the first to obtain a statement from the president discussing it. hehat president biden's statement says. the proposal meaning the muslim ban was a cynical p it was about sowing fear and distrust of muslim americans and all wh president trump followed through on his proposal and signed an executive order banning citizens from primarily muslim countries, it stained our national consen. it was cruel. the order separated loved ones and inflicted needless pain. th the united states of america. we celebrate the diversity that is our strength. we treat each other with dignity and respect. does that tell you anything about the white house strategy more to the point the biden campaign strategy? why put that out today? >> i think it tells us something really important, chris, that the white house has decided it's really time to go on offense against their opponent donald trump, maybe not in the way that everybody in cable news would like them to, taking shots all the time, but to have a concerted effort. you know, the white house posture for months at times, to some criticism from some of the democratic party was not to highlight donald trump's craziest comments. i think now as it's become k becoming clearer and clearer, there's no obligation to put out a statement. i'm glad he did. it's the type of thing that gets memory hold by average voters and we should talk about it and remember it in the context of the campaign. green card holders were put in airport cells for a little while. it was as un-american as an executive order as has been pass ed in modern times. i went to my brother's graduation. one of the speakers, her parents could not come visit and watch her graduate and speak as valedictorian because they came from one of those countries. so this did have a real impact and it was a stain, and i'm glad that the white house is doing this because it's just time to deal with reality that their opponent is going to be donald trump and they've got to drive the conversation and not just let him drive the conversation. >> lisa rubin, harry litman, thank you both. tim, don't go anywhere, we are going to talk to you a little bit more in a moment. we're also getting new video of a heartbreakingly familiar scene on american college campuses. students who had to essentially run for their lives as a gunman opened fire in las vegas. what we're learning about a possible motive and the victims of the attack. we're back in 60 seconds. ctims of the attack. we're back in 60 seconds a few years ago, i came to saona, they told me there's no electricity on the island. we always thought that whatever we did here would be an emblem of what small communities can achieve. trying to give a better life to people that don't have the means to do it. si mi papá estuviera vivo, sé que él tuviera orgulloso también de vivir de esta viviendo una vida como la que estamos viviendo ahora. es electricidad aquí es salud. it's a move that's being called high stakes and high risk. georgia's republican-controlled legislature just passed a new congressional redistricting plan that creates a court ordered black majority district but dismantles another. nbc news senior reporter jane timm is following this story for us. what exactly did they do here? >> so republicans were ordered to create this new majority black district. the order says you cannot dismantle another minority opportunity seat to do so, and it looks like republicans may have done that. they dismantled lucy mcbath's district, and that's a coalition district, it's hispanic, black, and asian voters who make up a majority of the district and collectively tend to vote for democrats in that state. dismantling that district kept the partisan balance for republicans here, which seems to be what the goal was. and the judge may well say this isn't okay. you have not complied with my order, and he could appoint a special master to redraw the maps, sort of like what we saw in alabama. perhaps more influentially, this map could end up at the supreme court because republicans say only single group minorities are covered by the voting rights act. these coalition districts which are increasingly common and multiracial, multiincreasingly diverse country, they're very common, so republicans say we complied with the order and only single groups are covered by the voting rights act. >> that essentially means there are people who want to run for office who don't really know where they're going to run necessarily, right? >> i think this happens all the time, there's so many districts that are up in the air right now. but likely you're likely to see a very quick order from this court, dh will put the maps in place for this year, but the court fight i think is going to last a lot longer than just 2024's election. >> jane timm, thank you for that breaking news, appreciate it. today the university of nevada campus is closed in las vegas as that city, scarred by th nation's adlit mass shooting in our history now grapples with another. we're learning more about the shooter who killed three people and injured one yesterday in what the gun violence archives says is the 633rd american mass shooting this year. two law enforcement sources have identified the gunman as 67-year-old anthony polito. they tell nbc news he was a professor who had applied for a job at the university three years ago. he was killed in a standoff with police. now, it is still unclear why he chose to open fire yesterday on the fourth floor of the business school. he was surrounded by classes and groups studying for exams, barely a week before winter break. the survivors right now experiencing grief, shock, and have questions. >> now that i've calmed down a bit, now i just feel angry. the fact that this happens over and over again is ridiculous. school shootings have been happening since i was born. i'm tired of it. and like i don't know how i can just walk around on campus after this. college is supposed to be the best time of your life, not the end of it. >>. the campus is just a 15-minute drive from the las vegas healing garden where a tree stand marking each of the people killed by a mass shooter there in 2017. nbc's dana griffin is reporting live from las vegas, talk a little more about what we know and what's happening there. >> reporter: yeah, chris, right now the campus is really quiet. but we have seen law enforcement escorting what appears to be professors and students inside some of the neighboring buildings to my left and right, and through this breezeway behind us, that is the lee business school where this shooting took place on the fourth floor. still waiting for answers about the motive. we know that a picture is starting to be painted as far as connection. this guy polito applied to be a professor here and did not get the job. is that part of the motive? possibly, but police have not said that. we don't know yet who are the victims or at least what maybe their connection, are they students? are they faculty members? are they decision-makers here at the university? hopefully that's all new information that will unfold. the community here is pretty heavy considering that this is the second time that a mass shooting has scarred this community. people frustrated -- and i think that last soundbite that you played from that student about college being the best time of your life, it shouldn't be the end of it, really speaks volumes. a lot of people across the country are frustrated by these mass shootings that we've had in this country. here on campus it's just a sober reminder of the dangers of just going to school. right now investigators are still behind us. we've seen several officers combing through the area. hopefully they'll have an update for us on what took place, what happened, and as we learn more about the shooting here. >> chris. >> nbc's dana griffin, thank you for that. right now take a look, live pictures of crowds in tel aviv lighting candles for the first night of hanukkah, but with war raging, the time for celebration is overshadowed by the unknown. what will happen to the hostages still trapped in gaza? our reporter is standing by. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. g "chrisg reports" only on msnbc is is 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 to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. . the u.s. and israel appear to be on a collision course, diplomatically. that wall street journal headline summarizing the escalating tensions as fierce battles rage inside khan yunis. the city is also now packed with civilians, many of them there because they fled from the north and are facing exactly the danger the white house wants israel to minimize. innocent lives threatened by both military action and the suffering of a renewed humanitarian crisis. last night after an air strike leveled a home in rafah, the horrors of war were encollapselated when our nbc news team spoke to this little girl who said, the situation is not well, not safe even. at night we sleep in fear. it's dark like a grave. look at how people are living. they are sitting outside destroyed. we want to return to our homes, people help us. we are tired of this life. nbc's raf sanchez reports from tel aviv once again. you're in israel where folks are lighting candles on this first day of hanukkah. talk a little bit about what you're seeing and what you're hearing there. >> reporter: yeah, chris, we are in the heart of tel aviv in a square that has become in some ways the beating heart of israel. this is where families of the hostages have been gathering for the eight weeks of this war making sure that the world doesn't forget their loved ones. and tonight on this first night of hanukkah they are lighting 137 candles behind me in honor of those 130 hostages who remain in hamas captivity inside of gaza. you probably can't see but the ambassador of united states jack lew is actually on stage right now. he is himself an observant jew, and he was saying this is a painful moment for people in this country, but it's also a moment to remember hope, to remember the story of hanukkah. this is a festival of lights, but it is a solemn night here on this first night of hanukkah in tel aviv. behind me past this crowd, there is a very, very long table, which was set out in the first days after the october 7th terror attack, and there are seats placed there for the missing people, the hostages being held inside gaza, and there are four seats right now for the members of the bibas family. that's 10-month-old kfir, his 4-year-old brother, ariel, their mother shiri and their father. hamas is claiming that those two little boys and their mother were killed in an israeli air strike inside of gaza. that's something the israeli military says they cannot confirm. but hamas released just this truly agoniing video of their father yarden having been informed by his captors that his children and that his wife were dead, pleading for the israeli government to free him, to free the remaining hostages. israel says this is a form of psychological terror. it's what you'd expect from hamas. but people here are gathered on the first night of hanukkah to show the world that these hostages haven't been forgotten, chris. >> nbc's raf sanchez, thank you so much for that reporting. i want to bring in collin clark, director of policy and research at the sufan group. i just got some information from the pool at the white house, and for the first time in 11 days, this would be day 11, president biden and prime minister netanyahu have had a conversation. we're waiting for the readout, to be honest those readouts generally are pretty -- we don't get a lot of information, but the fact that they had not just spo