news. the united states supreme court just agreed to weigh in for the first time on donald trump's historic criminal prosecution. the justices now set to quickly decide whether to accept the special counsel's request to rule out trump's claims of immunity. also, cnn's new polling in both michigan and georgia finds trump is leading president biden in those pivotal swing states. we're going to break down the warning signs for the biden campaign and the democrats as trump also appears to be gaining support over his republican rivals in iowa. and president zelenskyy is here right now in washington for talks with the president and key lawmakers about stalled u.s. aid to his country. zelenskyy arguing the lack of new war funding is making putin's quote dreams come true. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> this is cnn breaking news. >> let's get right to the breaking news. the supreme court responding to an extraordinary request by jack smith in the criminal prosecution of donald trump. paula reed is here with us in "the situation room." tell us more about what the supreme court has agreed to do and why smith's request is a very big deal. >> yeah, this today was an aggressive move by the special counsel to try to get the election subversion case to trial before the november 2024 election. the special counsel is asking the supreme court to decide two questions. one, is trump immune from prosecution or is he protected from prosecution because of potential double jeopardy. because he was impeached but not convicted on similar charges. now the special counsel doesn't think any one applies but they want the supreme court to decide this issue so that trial that's expected to go in march of next year, does not get delayed. because trump is litigating these questions but that takes time. could take months, maybe over a year for questions to move through the appellate process and potentially get to the supreme court. the special counsel is saying it is in the public interest for the supreme court to just take up these questions an give them an answer now. they're relying on precedent from the nixon watergate where the court was able to decide discreet issues quickly and now we'll get an answer as to whether they're going to take up the case pretty quickly. they're saying they will give us an answer on whether they'll answer these questions pretty quickly. >> have we heard from trump's lawyers about the case? >> we got a lengthy statement arguing this prosecution is election interference directly attacking the special counsel. look, all of that is allowed even though he's subject to a gag order, he is entitled to attack president biden, jack smith. so we're hearing more of the same but while they're arguing this is an attempt to interfere in the election and attack his supporters, the special counsel argues it is imperative voters see the resolution of this trial before they cast their votes next year. >> also want to bring in your legal and supreme court analysts. laura, let me start with you. what do you make of today's filing from the justice department special counsel jack smith? >> i think it's a smart move to preempt the inevitable. the delay attacks that will be used. this could take a very long time to get to the appellate court and the supreme court to review it. it could go into the following supreme court term and we are less than 370 days away from a presidential election. 332 maybe. if i'm counting the numbers right. it's important to get this answer because it takes away from the defense of donald trump at a trial. if he were to get to the trial, go through the entire process, motions then say actually, i'm immune from any of this sort of prosecution, it would delay to the point of absurdity any sort of pursuit of justice. that's with his due process rights in tact. but to get this taken care of now, is he essentially able to be prosecuted on something like this and it goes back to the nixon question. if the president does it, it's not illegal. are we back here again? they want to resolve it once and for all. >> what do you read between the lines as far as the supreme court decision? >> well, they're taking it very seriously. the request just came in this morning just about three minutes ago, the justices had said yes, they will at least put it on an expedited schedule. they've given the trump lawyers until december 20th to respond. that's only two days different than what jack smith asked for. he asked for december 18th. they're actually following the game plan so far. now just think of this supreme court. this is a supreme court that managed to avoid a lot of the controversy during 2020. it rejected baseless claims from donald trump's allies about the election results. stayed out of it. every case it's ever handled with trump, whether on his policy or his personal tax dealings has always been fraught. so they're probably not looking at this with eagerness but they know this is a case that this question has never been decided. and that was the point of jack smith's petition. that eventually, the supreme court's going to have to decide if a former president or a president can be immune from criminal prosecution for actions taken while in office, which is exactly what donald trump is asserting. so i think i frankly think this is a really strong case that jack smith has put forward and i think that we'll get, it's already getting close supreme court attention and we will probably know when it's just a matter of weeks whether they grant this petition. >> should the former president you think at all be worried about this? >> i think so. for the number of reasons that we've sort of talked about here. again, a word on timing. that's sort of the key point here. were this process to go through the normal process, were the case to go through the normal process, first be appealed in a court of appeals. then the losing party would have the appeal to appeal that to the full court of appeals then to the supreme court. that could have been months if not frankly years of appeals. so it was a very savvy move by jack smith to try to get this. i think it's safe to say that a litigant would not attempt to go to the supreme court unless they felt quite confident in the strength of the arguments and the strength of the case they're bringing. let's look quickly at the two things they're seeing. number one, this question of whether the actions at issue were in the scope of the president's official duties. there's an argument that he's a candidate for office. not the president of the united states. this was in furtherance of his candidacy. th on the double jeopardy question, it's not a stellar argument in that the point of impeachment is to protect the integrity of the presidency. the point of prosecuting someone is to send them to jail. they're two very different things. look, the former president is entitled to make the arguments he wishes but they aren't great arguments. it all speaks to the strength of jack smith and the special prosecutor's hands. >> the legislative branch does the impeachment. to invoke double jeopardy is a political reaction to what you've done. remember mcconnell making the comment of he wasn't going to support the conviction. they knew then that was a totally different issue. >> there's so many different lawyers on this panel. just to be clear when we speak about double jeopardy, you're speaking about this idea in the constitution that you can't be tried twice for the same offense. if jack smith or the special counsel were to prosecute someone for something, they couldn't then prosecute them for the same crime again a week later. the president's making the argument because i was impeached, you can't prosecute me for the same conduct. i think. >> laura, i want to get your thoughts. rudy giuliani's trial that's beginning. jury selection going on to determine damages for defaming two of georgia's 2020 election workers. we all remember ruby freeman and shaye moss. i want our viewers to listen to this. listen to this. >> earlier in the day when ruby freeman and shaye moss passing around usb ports as if they're vials of heroin orr cocaine. it's obvious to anyone that's a federal prosecutor that they're engaged in illegal activity. >> what can you tell us about the legal peril he's facing? >> first, it was obvious they were handing over ginger mints. not heroin, crack, usb drives. ginger mints. the entire tactic was to undermine their political credibility, use them as political pawns. the fact he's already got the defamation part decided means you're now on to how expensive will it be for the mistake you've made or action you've ai taken place. they are not public figures. now it's about how their lives have been altered drastically. you have one already saying she's uncomfortable having her name said in public. this is about the knowing information. of course, he's been consistent and said i was basing this on what i thought to be the truth. whether it was not true or not, not my issue here. this is a very extraordinary case for every election worker going forward. >> it is and we'll watch it very closely. everybody, thank you very much. laura will of course be back 11:00 p.m. tonight for her show. just ahead, we're going to dig into the alarming numbers for president biden in cnn's new polling on his rematch with donald trump in two pivotal swing states. we'll be right back. tonight, a new source of alarm for the biden re-election campaign. cnn's new polling showing donald trump leading the president in two states that could, that could decide their potential rematch. michigan and georgia. this as we're also getting new, a new snapshot of trump's strength in the leadoff republican contest in iowa. here's jeff. >> donald trump holding a commanding lead in iowa despite weeks before the state opens the 2024 presidential contest. the former president crossing a new threshold with 51% of republicans now backing him. according to a new des moines register poll. that's up from 43% from october. the shrinking gop field has boosted trump who now holds a 32-point lead. the race for second place is a showdown with ron desantis at 19% followed by nikki haley at 16%. >> he's his own worst enemy by not being able to control his mouth and that has consequences for governance and us being able to get things done. >> on a weekend iowa campaign swing, they were sharpening their attacks on trump's record. >> we know that the economy was good under donald trump. right? but what we need to also remember was we went $9 trillionin debt during that same time and we are paying the price for that. >> nearly half of likely iowa caucusgoers say their minds are made up, but among trump supporters, 70% say they're firmly committed in their decision. >> the first guy that ever got indicted, his poll numbers went up. >> the former president is turning his focus to president biden. as new cnn polls show fresh signs of warning for the white house. in michigan and georgia, two of the five states biden turned from red to blue, the president is facing alarmingly low approval ratings. fewer than four of ten approve of his performance in office. >> i will save democracy. the threat is crooked joe biden. >> in michigan, trump leads biden in a head to head match-up with 10% saying they wouldn't support either candidate. asked affect robert f. kennedy jr. and cornell west in michigan, trump falls to 39% and biden to 31% and in georgia, trump has a 49-44% edge over biden with 7% saying they would not back either. the challenges for biden are coming into sharper view. >> trump just talks the talk. we walk the walk. frankly, he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. >> the things that could drive the race are trump's numerous legal charges. in fgeorgia and michigan, nearl half of voters say if true, they should disqualify him from the presidency. is president was campaigning in philadelphia tonight at a fund-raiser and just a short time ago, he said that the fundamentals of democracy are at stake. that is one of the central issues why he is struggling so much at this point in georgia and michigan. long before we know if there will be a rematch between trump and biden, the iowa caucus is four weeks from tonight. as of tonight, donald trump has a commanding lead in the race. no doubt about it. all eyes are on the race for second place, which is still between nikki haley and ron desantis. >> thank you very much. let's break down these numbers are our political team and david, let's start with the brutal numbers for biden showing him losing in these two key states. the economy is certainly a top issue in this election and in both georgia and michigan, the battleground states, a majority of voters, 54 and 56% respectively say economic conditions have worsened with only a quarter of voters saying they improved. is it as simple as the old james carville line, it's the economy, stupid? >> i think last year's midterm le elections proved it's not quite that simple. there are issues that turn out democrats. specifically abortion rights. this issue where we saw -- let that not be any kind of comfort to the biden team about how rough those numbers are on the economy that you point out there. it is issue number one and after nearly a year of selling or attempting to sell the raw data that show improvements in the economy, clearly americans are not yet feeling it and majorities in these two states actually say his policies have worsened economic conditions. so there's a lot more work for the biden team to do over these next 11 months. >> a lot more indeed. kate, today, biden said the future of democracy in his words is literally at stake in 2024. given that and his dismal poll numbers against trump that we're seeing now, is biden potentially as some of his critics suggest, endangering democracy by running for re-election? >> let's look at the numbers. are there elements of them that are troubling for the white house biden campaign? absolutely. but they are also very krclose d the head to head is very close. i think there's anybody within the biden operation who believes this isn't going to be a very close race. we saw that na 2020. i think what the poll shows is that the country is very dy divided. there's intense partisanship and the biden campaign has work to do on doing what you heard president biden do. raising the stakes of the race and also reminding people about the chaos, the uncertainty. and really making it a concrete choice. so there's no question they have work to do. the election is 11 months away. i think the other piece of what they've got to do, there are other issues we've seen in the last two elections that have driven voters out to the polls. abortion is one of them. the biden campaign has to put that front and center. make it part of the choice and we've seen that will turn voters out. 11 months to go and a lot of time to do it. >> scott, how surprised are you by how resilient trump appears to be, defying predictions from so many he couldn't win in 2024? >> i'm not very surprised, actually, because of pursuant to what kate just said, you know, needing to make it a choice between people remembering what the trump presidency was like and now what the biden presidency is like, the national "wall street journal" survey that came out this weekend asked almost that very question and they asked which president's policies helped you and youhurt you. donald trump by a margin of 39-237 27 said his policies help. joe biden, a margin of 23-53. more people said his policies have hurt. that's the problem for biden. he's not running against something abstract on the economy. he's running against a recent memory and a recent memory of trump is the economy was pretty good and the current conditions of biden are they don't believe the economy's good and don't think he's done anything to stop inflation. they think he caused it. am i surprised to see somebody like donald trump winning right now? no. the underlying fundamentals here, i think the american people believe biden's policy has failed and trump's was a success. >> still a year to go. that's a long time in politics. david, let me turn to the gop primary race that's ongoing. for the first time, a majority of republicans in iowa are now backing him ahead of the january caucuses. up from 43% in october. how significant of a threshold is that for donald trump and does it mean for all practical purposes it's already over? >> it's not over because nobody's voted yet. so i don't believe we should have that posture. but i think that it is quite clear what a commanding and dominating position donald trump is in in iowa. and quite frankly, broadly in this republican primary process. 51% is crucial because as you know, wolf, that's a clear majority of support right now. it's a poll. it's not votes. it's a poll. but you could add up everybody else's support together and they don't catch them. so it is significant and i think something else in that poll is really significant. he shows, trump does, the ability to continue to bring new people into the process. that's been one of his strengths even going back to 2016. that still seems in play for him this cycle. >> important points, indeed. thank you very much. be sure to watch cnn's presidential town halls live from iowa. both events begin 9:00 p.m. only here on cnn. coming up, president zelenskyy, he's here in washington for a high stakes meeting with president biden as new u.s. aid to ukraine is stuck in limbo. i'm a little anxious, i'm a little excited. i'm gonna be emotional, she's gonna be emotional, but it's gonna be so worth it. i love that i can give back to one of our customers. i hope you enjoy these amazing gifts. oh my goodness. oh, you guys. i know you like wrestling, so we got you some vip tickets. you have made an impact. so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, it restores a lot of faith in humanity. president zelenskyy is here in washington tonight. he's on an urgent mission to try to break the stalemate in congress over sending more wartime aid to his country. mj lee is at the white house for us. that's where president biden will be hosting president zelenskyy tomorrow. what message is the president sending with this invitation to president zelenskyy? >> well, wolf, president zelenskyy is visiting washington, d.c. again to try to make a personal and desperate plea at such a critical juncture for his country. what we will see him do in d.c. tomorrow is first head over to capitol hill where he will meet with senators from both parties and then he will have a one-on-one meeting with the new house speaker, mike johnson, before he comes here to the white house to once again meet with president biden and then the two leaders will proceed to have a joint press conference. president zelenskyy is of course hoping that his visit here is going to help break the impasse that we have seen on capitol hill over the issue of the billions of dollars in aid for ukraine that is a high priority for this administration that has gotten completely tied up over the very fraught and complicated politics of immigration and border policy. what u.s. officials have been trying to stress for weeks is that time is up and there isn't enough pool of money that the government can tap into and that it is critical that congress act to approve mor what u.s. officials have been saying to me is that the world is really watching and that includes russian president putin. what one u.s. official said is that they definitely noted last week when this package failed to advance in the senate, they saw russian state media sell appre celebrating this news and they say it's sending a message to the bad actors across the world who are watching this. as for the funding package, it's such a priority for this white house and plenty of democrats. the prospects are not looking good. a number of key republican senators telling cnn today that the prospect of this getting done before the calendar year is up looks not good right now, wolf. >> mj lee, thank you. turning to the war in the middle east right now. israel says its forces are now surrounding the last two hamas strongholds in northern gaza. we have more from tel aviv. >> israel says about two months of fighting, it is still battling hamas in two different strongholds in northern gaza where militants have held out, but israel claims they're now on the verge of being dismantled. one area is the jabalya refugee camp where residents said dozens of civilians were killed over the weekend. since the pause ended, israel has pounded the gaza strip and focused on the south in the second largest city where israel believes hamas leaders may be hiding. as israel expands operations, the number of civilians killed and wounded. the entire house fell on my head and i was pulled from underneath the rubble, this woman said. we would have been better off dead with my children rather than living in this grim reality. an urgent appeal was issued by the idf this weekend for even more civilians to evacuate but it's unclear how many would have heard the orders and it isn't a guarantee of safety or shelter, medicine, food, and water, which are all in short supply. >> we were displaced from the north to the south for safety but there is no safety in the south, this woman said. it has led to deteriorating, chaotic scenes. the united nations secretary general warning that public order will completely break down soon. >> the situation is very challenging but i think that the s state of israel does much beyond our obligations by the international humanitarian. >> you call the situation in southern gaza challenging. last month, you denied that there was a humanitarian crisis in gaza. do you acknowledge now that there really is a dire humanitarian crisis? >> what i'm saying like i've said, the situation very, very challenging. >> but it's not a crisis in your opinion? >> as i see it, it's a challenge. >> when the united nations security council held an emergency session on friday to vote on a cease fire resolution, the united states was the only country to vote against it. v vetoing the resolution. the u.n. vote coming the same day biden used a maneuver to bypass congress and approve the sale or more tank rounds for israel. today in jerusalem, they protested the war with a general strike. also seen in the west bank, lebanon and jordan. on a normal afternoon, the streets would be teeming with people who live here, tourists and shopkeepers but today, there are few people out. business and life really coming to a standstill in solidarity with gaza. >> israel has created a -- that will will define generations to come. and therefore, it's hurting its own people as much as anybody in the region. this is a war that cannot be won. >> and wolf, tonight, the biden administration is asking israel for an explanation of those photos we saw last week of the dozens of palestinian men who have been detain. who were stripped. who were sitting on the ground blindfolded. the state department today called those photos deeply disturbing. they say they're asking for an update on the status of those men. the circumstances around which those photos were taken. we were told that quite a number of those men in those photos had nothing to do with militant groups. israel said that it did round up men and detain them to determine whether or not they were hamas and release those who weren't. tonight, israel released new images. the men are clothed this time. they say these are alleged militants from palestinian islamic jihad as well as hamas and israel is now saying that 500 alleged militants have been arrested in the last month and transferred for more questioning. wolf? >> alex, thank you very much. just ahead, one of putin's biggest critics goes missing from a russian penal colony. now, his team is sounding the alarm after losing contact with him. we have details. critic and russ dissident, alexei navalny, says he is missing from a russian penal colony and his lawyers say they've lost contact with their client. brian todd is looking into this important story. >> wolf, navalny's legal team says he's been missing for about a week. the white house and state department say they're concerned and hold the kremlin responsible for his well-being. one of putin's worst enemies. a thorn in the side of the russian strong man for more than a decade, now missing. a spokesperson posting on x, quote, we still don't know where he is. >> right now, he's completely alone and literally in the hands of people who once tried to kill him. so we don't know what they will do again. >> he had been scheduled for transfer from one penal colony to an even harsher one. >> if he's been transferred, that period is extremely dangerous because he doesn't have access to lawyers. people don't know where he is. those people transferring him can essentially do what they want with him. >> just days ago, putin announced he will run for president in march amid a crackdown on dissent. navalny's campaign has vowed to crackdown against putin. could there be a link to his disappearance? >> this is a period when he wants to make sure there's absolutely no possibility of any kind of interference internally. >> the most prominent and visible challenger. he's tried to run against putin for the presidency. in 2017, he was attacked with an a antiseptic green dye that he said damaged his vision in one eye. he was poisoned in 2020 with a soviet era nerve agent that almost killed him. after doctors in europe saved his life, he prank called the russian agents who he think tried to kill him. >> well, imagine underpants and in what place. >> the insides. the groin. >> putin has denied his security was involved. >> if they had wanted to, they probably would have finished the job. >> navalny returned to russia despite the risks. >> i have to go back because i don't want these you know, groups of killers exist in russia. i don't want putin be ruling of russia. >> he was promptly arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 11 and a half years, but he continues to criticize putin from jail. >> in order to extend his own personal power, putin's torment k a neighboring country, killing people there. >> navalny's legal team has raised concerns about his health, saying last week, he was dizzy in his cell and had to be given an iv and his daughter last summer told cnn he's had health problems in jail and lost weight. >> i am of course incredibly worried. they are not providing any support, any medical help for him in prison. >> in august, navalny was sentenced to another 19 years for allegedly supporting extremism and his legal team says he faces another 14 accusations that could result in up to 35 more years in jail. we're watching closely to see where he is. >> i hope he's okay. thanks very much. coming up, expelled former u.s. congressman george santos is discussing a possible plea deal with federal prosecutors as he works to avoid potential jail time. this just in. court documents show expelled former congressman george santos is discussing a possible plea deal with federal prosecutors. he's expected to appear in a long island federal court tomorrow. we're following the story. first of all, what do we know about these talks? >> yeah, wolf, we know that the negotiating table is open. that both sides are come to be it. keep in mind, we're talking about 23 charges the former congressman is facing. some of the allegations are just stealing from his campaign donors and using that money to enrich himself and his own personal lifestyle. what you said is what we're learning this through court documents that they asked for prosecutors for 30 more days from now another status conference hearing in addition to the one happening tomorrow. and they said essentially that they hope that to solve this matter and have no trial at all. now, santos actually hinted at the possibility of a plea deal when he spoke to our cbs affiliate here in new york. >> are you going to try to work a plea deal or go to trial? >> look, in the essence of everything going on, a plea is not off the table, obviously. at this point. but we just don't know that yet. there's obviously conversations taking place especially after what happened in congress and we'll see. >> are you afraid of going to jail? >> i think everybody should be afraid of going to jail. it's not a pretty place and i d definitely want to work hard to avoid that. >> keep in mind, wochl, the walls have sort of been crumbling in on him as his treasurer, fund-raiser, they have pled fguilty to charges thy have been facing on a federal level. also expecting we're hearing tomorrow this court trial could be pushed back, sorry, brought up if they don't come to some sort of agreement. >> thank you. allies of publicly supporting harvard's president after her controversial testimony about antisemitism on college campuses. the uproar has led to the resignations of the president and board chair over at the university of pennsylvania. cnn's jason carroll has the story. >> tonight, more signs of support for harvard university's president amid calls for her removal after harvard's board of directors meeting. as of monday, roughly 700 members of the school's faculty have signed a petition which calls on university leaders to resist political pressures and outside forces trying to remove her. harvard legalremove her. and and email to cnn on monday, he pressures went from wealthy donors or politicians, pursuing their ideological agendas, override the internal decision- making processes of universities, we are on the road to tyranny. the harvard alumni association said unanimously and unequivocally it supports trend claudine gay, said her testimony fell short but he would like her to stay. >> i was really expecting a clear statement against anti- semitism. >> the presidents from harvard, mit and the university of pennsylvania, all came under intense scrutiny after their congressional testimony, where they failed to condemn calls for the genocide of jews as it related to policies against boys -- bullying and harassment. >> yes, calling for the genocide of jews violates the code of conduct. >> correct. >> again, it depends on the context. >> she apologized and said that words matter. >> the next da y new york congressman elise stefanik, the house republicans who conducted a lot of the questioning at the hearing and is a harvard alum, tweeted, one down, two to go. the congresswoman has come under scrutiny in the past for campaign ads that some and her party say at go the great replacement theory, a belief that black americans and jews want to replace white americans. >> until recently the rabbi was a part of the anti-semitism group created in the wake of october seventh and was chosen by claudine gay, he says the testimony was the final straw and resigned last week. >> i it from any of the presidents, a certain urgency and anger and indignation but instead you got what? >> instead, we got legalisms and equivocation's. >> should claudine gay resign? >> not for me to decide. i may rabbi who's been at harvard for two months . >> and wolf, this late development, a source familiar telling cnn that harvard's governing board is expected to make some sort of an announcement about claudine gay's fate, that announcement is expected to come sometime this evening. the governing board met over the weekend on sunday, regularly scheduled meeting, and had another regularly scheduled meeting today. it should be noted that mit's governing board came out in support of its president, now waiting to see what harvard will say, wolf? >> we will find out soon, i'm sure. coming up, a woman at the center of a legal fight over reproductive rights, leaves texas to get an abortion, after the state supreme court blocked her emergencncy procedurure. attorneys for the woman at the center of a legal battle in texas, they say she's left the state to get an emergency abortion. the texas supreme court had blocked a judges ruling that she could legally terminate her pregnancy. ed lavandera is joining us live from dallas. this is clearly a major development. what can you tell us? >> reporter: it comes just a day short of a week ago when 31- year-old kate cox issued this lawsuit trying to get legal permission to get an abortion here in texas. but, according to her lawyers, she could wait no longer, she's almost 21 weeks pregnant now and her baby was diagnosed with a fatal genetic disorder and because of that, she feared for her future fertility and also her own physical condition as the pregnancy was progressing. she got permission from a judge thursday, to get the abortion illegally, but the attorney general took it up to the supreme court, and it has been stuck there throughout the weekend. and in a statement from her lawyer she said this past week, a legal limbo has been hellish for kate. her life is on the line, she's been in and out of the emergency room and she couldn't wait any longer, that's why she left the state and moments ago, wolf, the texas supreme court issued a ruling that was put in by ken paxton and requested by ken paxton last friday and essentially what this boils down to is that if kate cox had stayed here in texas, the supreme court was going to rule that they were going to overturn the legal permission she got from the state judge on thursday. so the bottom line is if she wanted this abortion, she had no choice but to leave the state of texas. >> thank you very much. interviewers, thanks for watching. erin burnett out front starts right now. outfront next, stoppin