happening now Donald Trump defiant as he leaves his civil fraud trial in New York

after hearing a key defense witness try to pull coals in the case against

him.

Now the former president is preparing to take the witness stand again.

Why this time will be different.

Also tonight, some of Trump's GOP rivals hit the campaign trail in Iowa and New Hampshire after their fourth debate without

him got fiery.

We're going to break down the lines of attack and Nicky Haley's response to being the top

target.

Plus smoke in the air over Gaza and fierce fighting on the ground Israeli forces

intensifying their hunt for top leaders of Hamas two full months after the brutal attack

on Israel that launched the war.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world Wolf Blitzer is off today.

I'm Pamela Brown and you're in the situation room. And we begin this hour with Donald Trump's return to his high stakes New York civil fraud trial.

The former president spending a full day in the courtroom as an accounting expert testified

for the defense.

Let's bring in the Chief Legal chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reed.

Paula how is Trump's team making its case here?

There's so much on the line right now for the former president.

This case strikes at the heart of his identity as a businessman and threatens his ability

to even do business in the state of New York.

Now the judge has already found him liable for fraud, for inflating the values of his

...