republicans take a key step today even though they failed so far to find any evidence of wrongdoing by president biden. and now the supreme court will have to rule on the election subversion case. good morning to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm kasie hunt. it is tuesday, december 12, and in just hours president volodymyr zelenskyy will start a series of meetings on capitol hill with senators and members of the house. he will urge them to pass billions in proposed military aid to his country that have been hung up over republican demands for major changes to the biden administration border policy. speaking to national security officials yesterday, zelenskyy said the big winner of a stalemate in washington is russia. >> if there is anyone inspired by unresolved issues on capitol hill, it is putin. >> this is a last ditch effort to break the stalemate as republicans and democrats refuse to bunch on border policy. clare sebastian is joining us live from london. cnn has reported that there is only about $2 billion still available in aid to ukraine. what happens after that? can ukraine hope to hold off russia without this money? >> reporter: it doesn't look good. it is not that clear cut. i think that ukraine wouldn't immediately collapse. conventional wisdom is that you need three times of number of the equipment and forces to do that. and there is not a significant breakthrough frankly on either side for a year since ukraine took back the city of kherson in november of 202022. so the u.s. is by far the biggest player when it comes to military aid, some $44 billion so far, pretty much as everyone else in the world combined, every other donor country. not only that, but it is a catalyst for other countries. it provides political cover for european countries to step in and offer the same kind of aid. so really, really important player in all of this and critical. zelenskyy and his wife warning if the word gets tired, they will simply let us die. and on the other hand we have russia which still outnumbers in terms of its military and pretty much every metric and not a static enemy, it has been able to erode the advantage that ukraine got by coming up with new ways of twrhwarting them li electronic warfare. >> all right. clare sebastian, thanks very much for that report. and u.n. general assembly is demanding an immediate ceasefire in gaza as humanitarian crisis there worsens. israel's defense minister claims the last two hamas strong holds oig are now surrounded. and the military expanded their offensive there. and israeli officials have warned hezbollah to pull back as clashes increase at the northern border with lebanon. elliott gotkine is joining us live from london. good morning. tell us what is happening there for the israelis to issue this warning. >> reporter: i think ever since the start of this war on october 7 after the hamas massacre took place and hezbollah, iranian backed proxy and lebanon started firing toward israel, it is a concern nat israel retaliation to those firings from those firings could lead to an escalation.nat israel retaliatio those firings from those firings could lead to an escalation. just today we've seen more firing from hezbollah, from lebanon, toward i resrael and israel retaliating. and a member of the war cabinet spoke with antony blinken. and warned that if this continues, israel will have to respond, again saying that the international community must act to ensure the state of lebanon, stop suching a agrees alone its borders. of course the last time there was a major flare-up between israel and hezbollah was in 2006. and lawmakers have been warning since october 7 that if hezbollah crosses the line, and we don't know where that line is, but if it does cross the line, it will bring destruction upon lebanon. israel doesn't want to open a new front in the north. the national community clearly doesn't want it. it could depend on the instructions or what iran says or encourages hezbollah do. but there are concerns that it could get worse. >> indeed. ell elliott gotkine, thank you. still ahead here, the supreme court fast tracking a ruling on whether donald trump can be prosecuted. plus where in the world is that value analexei navalny? and border crisis and immigration reform with debbie dingell. welcome back. there is growing concern in russia and here in washington this morning over the sudden disappearance of opposition leader alexei navalny. lawyers for the 47-year-old say he didn't appear at the scheduled court appearance and they have not been able to find him at either one of the penal colonies where he is supposed to be. a spokesperson for the russian prison system says he is no longer at the i k-9 colony, but claimed not to know where he was taken. and there is added worry that he is not in good health. f fred pleitgen is live for us. you've covered inavalny for years. what do we know? >> reporter: and it is difficult to get any sort of answers out of the russian prison system. and we mentioned some of the stages that navalny's lawyers have gone through trying to find him. and it is even worse than that because for a while the prison was saying that he wasn't showing up to meetings because of some sort of power outage in the prison where he was supposed to be. and only now are admitting that he is no longer in that prison. but at the same time, not saying which prison he has been transferred to. one of the things that we need to mention is that he was up to be transferred to a different jail which is supposed to be an even tougher jail than the one he has been in so far. we know he spent a lot of time in solitary confinement. and you mentioned correctly that he has had serious health issues. his spokeswoman says he fantsed in his cell last week and had to be put on an iv. so at this point in time, he is supposed to be transferred and it is not clear where that is and whether or not he is already there. this is actually something that is not uncommon in the russian prison system, that during that time of transfer, that prisoners do not have any sort of communication with the outside world, are not allowed to communicate. it is actually something that happened to a na vvalny last ti he was transferred to the jail he was in now. so there are big concerns that all of this is happening pretty much at the same time that vladimir putin announced that he was running for re-election again. there was also a campaign by alexei navalny's supporters against having vladimir putin elected once again. so that is also out there one of the things that i also want to mention, you mentioned that the u.s. is very concerned about the whereabouts of alexei navalny. we heard from a spokesman from the kremlin who says this is none of america's business and accused america of medaling in ru russia's domestic affairs. >> all right. i see. thank you for that report. let's look at all the russia related developments with a wider lens. as we heard, everyone lawyers for navalny don't know where he is. evan gershovich has been stuck in a moscow jail for 258 days and counting. and vladimir putin's critics even billionaire former cronies fall out of windows or die under mysterious circumstances with some degree of regularity. and now ukraine's president is in washington practically begging lawmakers to renew military aid. >> putin must lose. must lose. so that everyone else who sees russia's war on ukraine as his personal lecture of the so-called universal aggression gets the message loud and clear, putin must lose. >> max foster is live for us in london. i think that sort of lays out the stakes pretty clearly here as republicans in washington figure in. >> so you have the immediate picture, haven't you, where the ukrainian aid is being tied to u.s. border policy, the domestic issue. he has to find some sort of way through that with biden. so that big meeting today with the house speaker, extremely important to ukraine and to europe. but then you've got the bigger picture that he is also looking into, trying to explore with american politicians. and it is the idea that russia, if you allow russia, to invade another country and take territory, then that sets a really worrying precedent. not just that it is trying to do it, but it is being allowed. so you have countries like finland where there is concern that they may be invaded if russia succeeds with invading ukraine and taking that land in the longer term. and these are american allies. if you undermine american ally, you undermine american national security. these are the sort of arguments i suspect he will go into. and there is a current example he can point to much closer to home which is venezuela's claim over guyana. would venezuela be pushing for that if russia hadn't got away with invading ukraine. i think that that is a very different story that he can shed light on simply because the biggest company supplying oil is exxonmobil. so again, you are seeing u.s. interests being undermined by a movement which might not have happened if putin hadn't tried this. >> and the fundamental dynamic here, and james langford is a conservative republican but someone who democrats typically have believed is negotiating in good faith, basically saying i can't go home to my constituents and say i'm willing to help out the other countries across the globe but i'm not going to help out my own country by protecting the southern border. again, an immigration-related thing. these politics feel familiar to me. i mean, do you recognize that in terms of how -- i mean, this seems to be a part of the broader story of the fracturing of the west and an inward turn. >> yeah, nationalism is rising up everywhere really and being more interested in domestic affairs because there are genuine problems domestically and having less of an eye on global events. and it is the lack of intervention i think that you are seeing here particularly from america, obviously america is still the world's policeman. but there is a lack of will domestically on continue with that, and that has global repercussions and allows countries like russia to take advantage. >> for sure. max foster, appreciate it. still ahead here, a high profile texas abortion case may cause ripple effects in post roe america. first time i connected with kim, she told me that her husband had passed. and that he took care of all of the internet connected devices in the home. i told her, “i'm here to take care of you.” connecting with kim... made me reconnect with my mom. it's very important to keep loved ones close. we know that creating memories with loved ones brings so much joy to your life. a family trip to the team usa training facility. i don't know how to thank you. i'm here to thank you. you. welcome back. quick hits across america. the supreme court has agreed to jack smith's request for a ruling on whether former president trump could be prosecuted in his federal election subversion case or if he has immunity. and attorneys for kate cox say the texas woman has left the state to obtain an abortion. and the state supreme court reversed a lower court ruling authorizing her to get an in-state abortion. the court agreeing with the state attorney general that cox's pregnancy was not life threatening. harvard's governing body is expected to 250i7finalize a dec on claudine gay as soon as today. hundreds of faculty members have rallied to her defense. let's get to weather. storms writing warmer weather to the region, but a new storm brewing in the west.warmer weat the region, but a new storm brewing in the west. here to break it down for us is our weatherman derek van dam. good morning. >> compared to this weekend, this will be a walk in the park across the northeast. so that is the good news. we'll ease into the rest of the workweek with slightly warmer temperatures than what we experienced yesterday and slightly better conditions, a major improvement, because we don't anticipate the rain and snow that we saw. so here is a look at your temperatures. running about average, maybe a dip in the temperature for the northeast tomorrow. but in the meantime enjoy right where we should be this time of year for places like atlanta to d.c. but talking about the storm that was, it produced a lot rain right along the i-95 corridor and on the north side, cold air produced the snowfall for the higher terrain of new york, vermont and new hampshire. check out some of the snowfall totals. seeding a foot in upstate new york. impressive for vermont as well. equally impressive were the winds. but that system long gone. so like i said, this is a walk in the park today. much clearer skies overhead, the winds will not be as breezy as what we experienced yesterday. and no real concerns in terms of the travel, maybe a few flurries entering the equation by middle of the workweek for upstate new york and into northern new england, but not a major concern. so there is a cold front that will allow the brief dip in the temperatures. and a new developing storm will form near the four corners and into the texas and oklahoma panhandle. so this will be a rain and snow maker depending on where you are located. we believe that it will be generally rain across texas, but hire higher elevations perhaps a bit of much needed snowfall. we're running a bit below average for this area. so relief to the drought conditions expected across the central parts of the u.s. >> derek, thank you very much. see you tomorrow. and just ahead, ukraine's president zelenskyy in the u.s. to press for more money and meet with president biden. and deep dive into biden rival and democratic con gressmn dean phillips. good morning. thanks for being up early with us. i'm kasie hunt. president of ukraine is on an 11th hour visit to washington this morning. 11th hour because he is here to plead with lawmakers to approve billions of dollars in aid to ukraine at the very last minute. negotiations on capitol hill have stalled over republican demands to roll u.s. border policy to something back like it was in the trump administration. and the clock is ticking. only about $2 billion left in previously approved aid to ukraine. zelenskyy here trying to break the stalemate, but the battle lines have hardened. >> we understand the crisis there. i understand the necessity of ensuring that vladimir putin does not prevail in ukraine and march through europe. i'll explain to him that while we understand that, i've made my position very clearly the early since the day i was handed the gavel that we have to take care of our border first. >> republicans and only republicans are holding everything up because of unrealistic maximalist demands on the border. >> and let's break in mika sellner. good morning. is zelenskyy's mission basically already a failure, any hope to change minds here? >> good morning. we'll see the talks happen on capitol hill today with zelenskyy being the most critical in his third visit to capitol hill this year. zelenskyy will have an all-senators meeting today and then he will meet with speaker johnson who is a deeper skeptic than kevin mccarthy was. and so this isis critical time. so we'll see what happens but this is a huge test in terms of the future of aid. >> the u.s. public, public support for ukraine, has actually been waning. we're nearing the two year anniversary of the invasion. in june, 29% of americans, so about one in three, said that america was doing too much to help ukraine. that number in october up to 41%. i hear this in the way republicans talk about this. they continue to say i think that the line is we need to do our own border first before we help other people. are they reflecting what we're seeing in public opinion? >> i think that is the justification a lot of the members who are more recently going into this anti-ukraine wave of the house republicans, and even senate republicans, but we have seen skepticism early on especially from the right flank in the house. i think it is interesting to note that some senate republicans are now growing in the way that has kind of been this way in the lower chamber before. so a lot of people will say it is polling and what they are hearing in their district. but some are extremely worried about the trend. >> and the lead republican negotiators already saying this is something that will have to get punted until after christmas. is that your understanding, any hope to get this done in 2023? >> it is possible. but right now very difficult. obviously we'll see congress supposed to depart after this week, so a huge time scrunch and it is -- there is still a lot of road blocks with no hope left with how the negotiations are going. if it doesn't happen this week, i would say it is very unlikely and future of the aid is really in question for next year. >> and on another topic, there will be a key meeting today in the push that republicans what are are making to formalize their impeachment into president biden. what do we expect from that? >> we should expect house republicans to have the votes to launch a formal impeachment inquiry into president biden. what is surprising is we've seen most moderate republicans or i would say pretty much everybody i've talked to capitol hill say that they are open and will vote on this with the exception of ken buck, a freedom caucus member who has been skeptical on impeachment this entire congress. but it will be interesting because we'll see the vulnerable republicans justify their vote saying that we're open to an inquiry, which means that we're just trying to get more information, we're not impeaching the president, which is an important distinction members have been making. >> what changed here? for the longest time votes weren't there for this. >> i think there is a lot of growing pressure in the house especially. we've seen the way that members in the right flank of congress has kind of corralled the agenda and have really pushed leadership into formal i'ds impeachment, into backing peechlt. a impeachment. and not just joe biden, but possibly secretary mayorkas, too. so a lot of pressure on moderates right now and seeing that possible in their districts. leadership pushing this too. so i think a lot of this is a pressure campaign. >> all right. thank you very much for getting us started. appreciate it. now this. dean phillips, congressman from minnesota, is lashing out against president biden. he is a long shot presidential candidate and struggling to gain traction. he is launching a series of escalating attacks suggesting that president biden is too old, a threat to democracy and unelectable. this despite initially saying he didn't want to demeanor diminish the president during his campaign. isaac devar as new reporting. and you call the campaign chaotic and increasingly negative. i think "the daily beast" labeled it a mid life crisis campaign. what did you learn when you were out on the trail? >> first of all, what phillips is trying to do is beat joe biden in a primary. that is a hard task. but when you see him walking around new hampshire you see a guy who is tapping in to something that is definitely there, a lot of frustration with joe biden, a lot of anxiety about where he is and where he stands in the polls against trump. but there is for phillips a real turn toward this very negative, saying he is too old. i said you got into this campaign saying that you were trying to strengthen biden maybe and he said that is impossible. his weakness predated me. and he's gotten into all sorts of other policy prescriptions far from where he started as a moderate. i said to him what do you make of this campaign thats is pretty far from saying that he wasn't in this to demean the president. and i said to me, it is not what i intended. things that are surprising to him and that he is getting much more -- a much more negative view of the state of democracy, the state of the democratic party and even the state of joe biden than he ever thought going in. >> didn't intend for it to be this way yet i'm completely in control of my own campaign. i spoke to phillips last month and this is what he told me about his overall plans for the campaign. take a look and i know you have updated reporting. watch. >> most importantly, if i do not succeed on march 6, i will wrap this up with sgras. i grace. i will get behind the president or whoever the eventual nominee is. >> so is that still the plan? >> that is not the plan. that is among the many things that have changed about the plan here. he was saying march 6. that is super tuesday. a lot of primaries then. now what he's saying is that the plan is to hopefully get 42% is the internal benchmark that his campaign has set for new hampshire. the reason why they have set on that number is because in 1968, that is what eugene mccarthy got against lyndon johnson. johnson won but was so embarrassed by the democrats turning away, that he ended up dropping out of the campaign. phillips says that is what he wants to happen for joe biden here and he will keep on making that case into the spring, into june, maybe even into the convention. he pint points out hubert humph won the nomination despite not winning one primary. and mccarthy and humphrey both minnesotans. and he points out he is a delegate himself. so he will have some role even if a small one and he intends to keep pushing this. we'll see if that ends up what happens here, but it is a changing rationale and changing plan. >> what happened when you took all of this to the biden campaign? >> i opposed to them a number of questions, whether they were worried about phillip, whether they felt like that he was accentuating some of the president's weaknesses, and i got basically a number of one word answers that you can see in the piece. nope, no, not really, those sorts of answers. >> so the biden campaign is basically, okay, don't need to spend too much time on this. >> and that is their response, but again, when you -- watching phillips walk around, wednesday and thursday last week, there is this level of discomfort about joe biden which is very real. and what i observed with the new hampshire voters rng, when he s are you ready for a change, they say yes. are you worried about booiden, they say yes. but trying to tell them on him, st phillips doesn't make the sale. some democratic voters say if biden is going to be our choice, we have to get behind him. but that is about as enthusiastic as people get about biden. >> and it is a really interesting lens with which to look through kind of biden's challenges. so i do recommend the piece. isaac dovere, thank you for sharing it with us. and president biden facing progressive backlash over his recent border talks with republicans. and secret space mission scheduled toto blast offff toni. 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. welcome back. president biden is angering some in his own party as he negotiates with republicans for changes in u.s. border policy in exchange for aid to ukraine and israel. the president is now facing backlash from progressive democrats who oppose major changes to u.s. border policy. the chair of the congressional his hispanic caucus saying that president biden knows that is not what democrats stand for. and calling the negotiations, quote, uncon shenkable. let's bring in congresswoman debbie dingell. always wonderful to have you on the show. we know the white house is more engaged in the border security talks, some of the issues already under negotiation, they are talking about asylum stand ders, humanitarian parole, deporting people more quickly. is the biden administration going too far or do you want to see them continue to work to compromise with republicans? >> i think that they have to sit down and talk with everybody. we have needed to do some kind of comprehensive immigration reform and border legislation for years. quite frankly for decades. it is a tough subject. people have a lot of strong emotional feelings and it impacts the national security of the country, a lot of humanitarian issues connected with it. we have businesses that need workers. it is complicated. and i'm not somebody who thinks that border should be tied to critical funding for ukraine and humanitarian aid for gaza. but here we are. i think the president needs to make sure he is negotiating with republicans and democrats. and if we get something done, which we need to do some year, we actually need to -- they are tying it as you know to supplemental funding for ukraine and humanitarian aid in israel. i think that it is unlikely that it will get done this week, but the president needs to have republicans and democrats in the room. >> what do you think is the bigger political challenge for the white house here? obviously from a general election perspective, the border is a significant challenge with independent voters. but now polls -- a new poll out of your home state of michigan that shows democrats, one in fourks four, don't approve of president biden. young voters are breaking for donald trump and there is not a lot of enthusiasm. >> only thing that i'll say about this poll, it didn't surprise me, and a year out, you know, everybody knows i tried too warn everybody in '15 and '16 that we had a problem and nobody listened. but these polls are getting people's attention. we know what we have to do to win the campaign. it will be hard-fought and it is -- michigan is a very complicated state because it is young voters as you pointed out, we still have to work on union voters who usupported donald trump eight years ago. you go in a hall and you get mixed reactions. and the mideast has complicated michigan in a way that i've never seen in my lifetime. but i also know what we need to do. the president has to come in, meet with these groups. all of us have to do a better job of talking about what has been done to save the economy. and we also have to define who donald trump is. and the things that he has said and his record. and how that will impact michigan. >> you feel like the white house -- or the biden campaign is listening to you? >> uhh -- yes. i -- i actually come. my phone calls get returned. i think people no -- you know, we finally have a state director appointed. i will tell you that the vice president has a serious talk with me and she's very focused on some this issue. i don't think the white house wants me to talk to directly to president biden too much, but the vice president understands what is happening in michigan and i think there are a lot of senior people inside the white house who get that this really is a problem and we got to get to the things do to make sure that we address them. >> why doesn't the white house want president biden to talk to you directly? >> that was sort of my joke. but, you know, i'm kind of known for my candidness. in case you've never noticed, i don't -- i tell people what i think. >> part of why i love having you here. >> and i get in troublesome mornings. but i tell people what i think. >> fair enough. one particularly contentious issue has been obviously the university presidents who testified before the house in the anti-semitism hearing. the president of the university of pennsylvania stepped down. there has been issue on claudine gay, president of harvard. the harvard crimson this morning is reporting that the governing board is going to say that claudine gay should stay in her position. do you think that is the right move? >> look, i think that these campuses are a mess. i'll use that word. i have spent a great deal of time on the campus at the university of michigan. i have met with all of the groups on a regular basis. and they are torn apart. i think that the three presidents who testified on the hill did a terrible job. let's all beingacknowledge that. they were lawyered. and if you read my weekly letters, i do a newsletter every week, i've been talking about free speech and the importance of protecting the basic rights of the constitution. but when do you cross lines. and when you are on campus, i've gone and met with these kids, they walk down the street and people yell against jews. but when talking to the arab-american and muslim students, women are afraid to walk across campus. they have had thajibs torn off their room. and there is fear on the campuses. the president can say you need to protect defree speech, but their campuses are being torn apart and people are hurting. people have families impacted on all sides. so what they have to do is remember that there is heart and soul that has to come to this. our delegation meet with the president of the university of michigan and the top administration. and i was very clear, your campus is hurting. they are torn apart. you got to go in there -- i had, best meeting i had with the kids, and i said do you want to talk to me about how you feel. and one woman expressed her fear of wearing the star of david. and another young man said i'm jewish, but my friends are arab-americans. and they even organized some of the protests. but they are not anti-semitic. they are people coming on this campus that are the ones that are tearing down the sites and stirring up rubble. and the third student said how can we just have considerations like the one you are having with us. everything goes immediately into screaming and we really want to talk about how people feel. what is happening. how you solve it. that is what campuses need to be doing. they need to understand that they got people on their campuses that are scared. they are physically scared. they are hurting. and we -- campuses are a place where we need to learn, remind people of history, and try to find ways to bring people together, not to continue to care them apart. >> all right. congresswoman debbie dingell, thank you for your perspective this morning. i appreciate your time. and still ahead on "cnn this morning," the supreme court taking on a make or break decision about the prosecution of former president trump. and with just five weeks until the iowa caucus, florida governor and republican presidential hopeful ron desantis joins jake tapper live from iowa to take questions directly from voters. it airs tonight the 9:00 p.m. 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. titans stun the dolphins pulling off one of the most improbable comebacks in the nfl in years. coy wire has the "bleacher report." >> what's going on, kasie. teams down by 14 in the final three minutes have lost the last 767 games. but didn't matter, two touchdowns to go, 2:46 to go. and hopkins with the touchdown. tennessee would go for two and get it, so a six point game now. after great defense, tennessee has a shot. and king henry plows in for the touchdown and the lead. and getting a huge hug from mike vrabel. tennessee wins, first team in seven years to overcome the 14 point deficit in the final three minutes. and tommy devito is the whole strain. but his agent is a riot. come on, let's -- >> oh, come on. >> yeah. and how about his dad tom kissing him and tommy boy and saquon barkley helped new york take the lead early in the third. and what does a game winning drive deserve? giants down one, and robinson gets a big gain. and sets up the field goal. devito leading them to the win over the packers. and details of the shohei ohtani $700 million deal with the gondodgers are out. he is only getting paid $2 million a year for the life of the contract. and the other $680 million starts in 2034 after the contract expires. a source familiar with the terms says that the deal is an easy decision and all about ohtani being a team player. the 29-year-old pitching and hitting sensation coming off two mvp seasons in the last three years with the angels. check it out, sabres commentator takes a puck to the face and doesn't bat an eye. to be fair he probably did bat an eye, but he says he just said we have a show to do. he called the rest of the game and seiabres win 5-2 over arizo. i can't imagine getting head like that. he will probably need stitches but all good he says. >> oh, my gosh. i viewers, but if i was hit in the face with a hockey puck, i don't know if i'd be here. >> call the backup. and can we talk about ohtani? an incredible deal but stunning that they are putting off so much of it. >> yeah, you go from $70 million a year to $2 million a year. and it was all about freeing up the dodgers to be able to go out and land some other big free agents and other key players for ohtani. and they could be good for a very long time. >> yeah, look, speaks well of the guy, i have to say. feel like the more we learn about him, the more impressive he becomes. coy, thank you very much. thanks to all of you for joining us. i'm kasie hunt. don't go anywhere. "cnn this morning" starts right now.