right now, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is at the white house meeting with president biden. a fierce standoff in congress over ukraine aid. biden wants to send an under 61 billion dollars to keep. house republicans will not sign off on more aid until they get a series of immigration measures passed in return. earlier today, zelenskyy met with members of the house and senate to try and persuade them to try and change some minds. he argues this political deadlock is a dream come true for vladimir putin. let's get to cnn's mj lee at the white house and moderate who's live for us on capitol hill. first to you, mj. biden and zelenskyy essentially see eye to eye on the issue of military aid. so what will they try to get accomplished during this meeting? >> reporter: boris, president biden and president zelenskyy may see eye to eye on this issue, but frankly it is not up to them. it is up to congress. right now, what we are seeing on capitol hill is a total impasse over this issue of the supplemental package that includes some 60 billion dollars of additional aid from the u.s. to support ukraine. it seems very unlikely that anything on this front is going to get done before the end of the year. look, i think both leaders had hoped this kind of highly symbolic and high profile in-person visit from president zelenskyy could help sway some republican lawmakers who are very much set on making sure that border policy is attached to the supplemental package. it seems like that is not going to happen, but there is also a sort of broader goal as well to this visit, and that is sort of sending a message to the rest of the world, including russia and president vladimir putin, that the world, the international coalition that backs ukraine, remains steadfast and supportive of the ukrainian cause. president biden and president zelenskyy have met before of course. this was about a year ago at the white house, but it's incredibly notable just how much the politics around the issue have changed. certainly not helping president zelenskyy or president biden is the fact that here at home public opinion on this issue has shifted quite significantly as well. >> how much the politics have changed and how much the reception has changed from his last visit. manu, let me bring you in. you have been speaking with lawmakers on the hill. what is your read on this? did zelenskyy sway any gop votes from what you can tell? >> reporter: no, he hasn't. in fact, there are a lot of republican senators to support what zelenskyy said today, that there needs to be action on ukraine, but they are still in the position they were at the beginning with the day. that is that their first needs to be a deal on handling the influx of migrants at the southern border with mexico. changes to immigration policies to reduce the flow of immigrants before they can actually get a deal on ukraine, before they would actually vote yes to approve ukraine. this problem still persists despite sullen skis pitch of urgent pleas behind closed doors. it's clear not only to the detractors. there are ukraine skeptics within the senate and house gop, but there are significant voices who are supporters of ukraine like senator lindsey graham, senator lynn -- it romney. both of them indicating today that nothing will get accomplished unless there is a deal on immigration first. >> i told -- not helping. and the policy choices made by the biden administration the last three years, to let the border get out of control, has put them in the butt. we are not going to let it go any further. >> the reality is that the house is not going to take up a ukraine bill unless it includes securing the border to the level that exists at the three prior presidents. that is what needs to happen. absent that, the reality is it won't happen because the house won't let it happen. so that is just the way things are. when people like the majority of the house, you have to listen to what they have to say. >> reporter: speaker mike johnson made the point is well after his half hour meeting with president zelenskyy. he went to the microphones and indicated that there must be action on border security proposals that they put forward, pointing the finger at the senate. pointing the finger at the white house. so even as zelenskyy tried to unite republicans and democrats behind the ukrainian cause, divisions over a separate issue hampering aid at the moment, for now and potentially for the long term. guys? >> in that deal not only aid for ukraine but also aid to israel. mj, president biden dealing with that conflict between israel and hamas in gaza. we are learning that the president also made some really blunt remarks about benjamin netanyahu and his government and his lack of a desire for a two-state solution. >> reporter: -- >> reporter: yeah, they were blunt remarks for sure. very notable for the. the president telling donors moments ago that israel is beginning to lose the world support in terms of this war. we have seen u.s. officials and senior members of the administration in recent weeks increasingly expressing their concerns about the way that israel is conducting this war, particularly when you are looking at the huge civilian death toll in the gaza strip and the massive amounts of destruction that we have seen. the u.s. has said pretty explicitly that the way that israel conducts this war in the south must look different than how it conducted its war in northern gaza earlier on in the conflict. even last night we heard the president basically warning israel. look, public opinion when it comes to this war can change quickly, but today it seems that for the first time, and probably the most pointed remarks he has given on the issue so far, the president confirming that israel is in fact beginning to lose support on the war. the other thing that was incredibly noteworthy was the president saying that netanyahu needed to change his government, because it is too conservative, and that it does not support a two-state solution. this is a very strong signal we are getting from the white house, from the president himself, that this administration at this moment in time is beginning to think in concrete terms about what the post war gaza governance should look light. and there are some major differences we are already seeing between the u.s. and israel on this issue. the war is well into its third month now. again, just clear signals that the administration is starting to focus more and more on that issue. >> mj lee from the white house, manu raju on capitol hill, thank you both so much. we are also watching another important moment on capitol hill. the house rules committee is expected to reconvene at any moment now to determine if an impeachment inquiry into president biden will get a full vote on the house floor. cnn's lauren fox watching the developments for us. lauren, if in fact this passes through the committee, lay out exactly what happens next. >> reporter: yeah, we expect this would then come to the floor of the house of representatives tomorrow and the republican leadership has been working overtime to shore up support, and ensure that republicans are united in that book to open an impeachment inquiry officially. there has already been an ongoing inquiry since former house speaker kevin mccarthy announced one in the fall, but this is a move that leadership is arguing, and the speaker himself is arguing, will have an impact and help them get more and more information that they need as part of their impeachment investigation. here was the speaker earlier today. >> the impeachment inquiry is necessary now because we have come to this impasse where following the facts where they lead is hitting a stonewall. because the white house is impeding that investigation. they are not allowing witnesses to come forward with dozens of pages of documents. so we have no choice to fulfill our constitutional responsibility. we have to take the next step. we are not making a political decision. it's not. it's a legal decision. >> reporter: and there are a lot of republicans who are running in districts that biden won in 2020, including don bacon who told our colleague earlier today that just because the house votes to open this impeachment inquiry formerly on the floor tomorrow does not mean that it is a foregone conclusion that they will have a vote to impeach president biden. i think that is a really interesting distinction that a lot of republicans are making as they wait what they are going to do tomorrow. again, leadership is very optimistic. they will have the votes on the floor for this, despite the fact they have an incredibly narrow majority right now. rahel, boris? >> reporter: we will see, lauren fox. thank you. let's stay with the story. ahead of a potential showdown on capitol hill, we have learned that hunter biden will be in washington d.c. tomorrow. >> yeah, remember that is today that house republicans insisted that hunter sits down behind closed doors for a deposition. of course, the president's son has tried to argue this. he's tried to put his attorneys forward saying he will only testify publicly. let's bring in cnn's paula reid. cnn -- 's paula, what more are you learning? >> reporter: this could be quite the showdown tomorrow. here's what we know, hunter biden lives in california, but we know that he's in washington, d.c. right now and he will be here tomorrow. that is the date where house republicans have demanded that he come in and sit for a closed door deposition as part of their escalated impeachment inquiry. hunter biden has said he is willing to answer questions even though he now faces two criminal cases says, but he wants to answer these questions publicly. lawyers have said there are concerns, that if they sit behind closed doors the republicans might selectively leaked certain information to help their narrative. republicans though rejected that request and said we insist you sit behind closed doors first. then maybe eventually we can do something publicly. and now there's just a stalemate, but our colleague on the hill, and greer, says republicans are prepared for hunter to possibly show up tomorrow among their preparations. the cameras are set up for the deposition, though it would not be for us to see, it would be for them. lawyers have prepared hundreds of questions, but they have not heard from biden's legal team. at this point it is unclear if hunter biden is going to show up. again, he's going to be in town. this could be quite the showdown if he does show up, because as of right now there is no agreement that this interview will take place. if it does, it's behind closed doors. >> paula, is there a time period that he has to respond by, or can he decide to show up or not until it kicks off tomorrow? >> that's a great question. republican said if he does not show up at the appointed time, which is nine: 30 eastern time, that they will pursue contempt against him. again, if he does potentially show up, and offers to, you know, answer questions publicly, legally speaking if you take it out of the political process, that will muddy the waters. if they want to try to pursue some sort of criminal contempt against him because he would argue i set out to answer questions. i just want to do it publicly. i will show up, maybe in a suit or whatever. i said i would do it and sit with you, but you are being too specific on the terms. we will see what happens tomorrow. it's unclear if he will show up on the hill and what is going to happen. look, he's in town. they've got their questions and the cameras. >> a little suspense. >> reporter: i'm feeling dispensed. >> also unclear if they do decide to pursue contempt charges, whether the doj within prosecute. >> reporter: yeah. i think the doj might look at this particular set of facts and say this isn't just someone who said no way. this is not peter navarro or steve bannon. this is someone who said i will work with you, even though i am facing two criminal cases now, but i want to do it publicly. if he does show up, that also helps their case in the criminal context. politically, you know, those political votes on contempt or a different animal. we know that, but it when it comes to the doj they might look at the senate facts and say this is not what criminal contempt is meant for. it could be an effort to muddy the waters. it is fascinating. >> it is fascinating. a game of deposition chicken. >> reporter: i love it! >> all are read, thank you so much. still ahead, as ukrainian president below to mere zelenskyy pushes for critical aid in washington, republican lawmakers are digging in on changes to border policy as part of that deal. next, we will discuss where things stand with the republican senate. also, the judge overseeing rudy giuliani's defamation trial blasting the former new york city mayor in court today, saying that giuliani made additional defamatory remarks about two georgia election workers. we will have it for you. stay with cnn news central. we will be right back. i want to get your reaction to president zelenskyy's visit. and if you think he did enough to persuade you or colleagues that opposed sending more aid to ukraine. >> i think he did a great job of talking about where we are in ukraine right now, and really saying that it's not a standstill that is portrayed in the media if you look at what ukraine's been able to do in the black sea, pushing the russian fleet really back to the republic of georgia. how they have been able to open up their seat lanes to be able to ship grain. at what they have done in regard to energy independents. at the end of the day, what this is really about is what the president is doing, or not doing in this case, about the border. the president is including as part of a supplemental package, and as republicans we want to see real policy changes to the border to slow down this huge crush of people coming across. last week we had 12,000 people come across the border in one day. my understanding is that the president and his team are just really now starting to get engaged on this. there needs to be a negotiation with the biden government. that is really what the process is going to have to play out to be able to get to a solution. >> i want to get to questions about that border deal, but back to ukraine and focusing on that. so lynskey has repeatedly said that a victory for ukraine entails retaking crimea, but at this rate the counteroffensive is not meeting expectations. it appears to be getting bogged down. aid is not likely to come immediately before the end of the year. do you think ukraine should revisit what the endgame looks like? >> i'm certainly not going to tell presidents a lynskey what he needs to do, but i can tell you based upon the groups i have talked to, the ukrainian people are very united around winning this war. that means retaking the land that russia has taken from them. they have taken half of it back already. they have made big progress in the black sea itself as i previously mentioned. i think what we need to do is just to get back to the negotiations on this bill so we can get them the weapons they need to continue this fight against a brutal dictator in vladimir putin. >> on the question of vladimir putin. he is seeing things very differently ben zelenskyy's. he believes that there is a stalemate now, and you -- u.s. intelligence seems to believe that this winter is going to help, or rather the russians believe this winter is going to help train the west's support of ukraine. he said this week that the west is losing the will to fight back against russia. seeing that some of your colleagues remain adamantly opposed to sending aid, do you think vladimir putin is right? >> i think vladimir putin is seriously miss underestimating. he does not understand what democracies are about. he misjudged. he thought he would be in kyiv in three days. certainly is not. he's not there two years later. he did not think the west would unify the way nato has. one thing he does not understand about democracies is that we are messy. we have big groups of people. it's a process to do that. any of our allies that our democracies know that is true as well with their own issues. this is just a process we have to go through in our democracy to work with our parties. we have divided government. the democrats are not in charge of everything so they have to compromise. frankly, there is no deal with that president biden and he needs to get directly engaged. the white house has to engage on this to get a deal done so we can provide the aid to ukraine, also to israel, the indo-pacific, taiwan. these are important issues, but the white house has to be able to get involved and negotiate to get a deal done. >> it does strike me, senator, that about a year ago zelenskyy received a heroes welcome on capitol hill. it was almost unanimous. a very different reception this time. i am wondering how much you think the 2024 election and donald trump's possible return to the white house are influencing the debate about ukraine. >> i will tell you, boris, in our meeting today with the senators actually he got a standing ovation on more than one occasion. he walked into the room and got a standing ovation. i think there's broad bipartisan support, at least in the u.s. senate, to be able to help ukraine. i don't know that they support is lagging. there's certainly some of my colleagues who are wondering about why are we giving more money to ukraine when we have not actually fix our problems at the border. that is a sentiment that the american people share. you can go look at the polling numbers on the president's job approval rating at the border. you can see he is significantly underwater because of his poor handling of it. so americans want to see our border problems fixed. then we can start talking about how we can help ukraine. >> senator, i want to ask you about that immigration deal. i just spoke with your colleague, senator mark kelly, about an hour ago. he said he believed that bundling the immigration issue specific to policy with the issue of yet aid to ukraine as a mistake. do you think the two need to be intertwined to get something done? >> first of all, i think both democrats and republicans agree that we need to do something about our border. we can just have 12,000 people across the border and get released into the country, today's the best majority, because customs and border patrol cannot process them properly. the other thing i think is that the president put the border in his supplemental request. so if it's a mistake, it's the presidents mistake because he put it in there. the mistake that the president is also making is that he hasn't done anything about it in the three years he has been president. the policy has to be a part of this if we are going to get something done. policy has to be a part of it. regardless if you think it's a mistake or not. the only way to get this done is to put policy changes on the board. >> i think the distinction he was making is that there is the difference between funding for border security and getting into the policy and writing asylum rules. nevertheless, senator pete ricketts, we have to leave the conversation there. we very much appreciate your time. >> right. thank you. >> of course. still ahead, former new york congressman george santos in federal court today facing multiple criminal charges related to alleged fraud and campaign violations. is he about to take a plea deal? some new reporting on that. and a disturbing story out of turkey. the president of a top-flight soccer club quitting after he punched a referee in the face during a match. that referee you see on your screen is now claiming his life was threatened. more details when we come back. you're probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers f