warning congress that failing to pass more ukraine aid would be, quote, the greatest christmas gift for vladimir putin. but house speaker mike johnson saying no new money for ukraine unless democrats agree to tackle tougher border policies. is there any path forward? our team in washington and moscow tonight. also this evening, new divisions between the u.s. and israel. president biden warning israel is losing international support because of the, quote, indiscriminate bombings of gaza. and the new reporting on israel flooding hamas tunnels. after the backlash to her testimony about antisemitism, why harvard's board says it's supporting the school's embattled president. the nightmare flight. a delta plane diverted to remote canada. 270 passengers on board for more than 20 hours. how did it happen? as u.s. and china tensions rise, our rare look inside, and how america is fighting the growing space arms race. our nbc news on hidden junk fees at car dealerships. the new federal crackdown. and the race to save one of america's national treasures with seeds of hope. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening and welcome. we begin tonight with the war in ukraine and the protracted fight for new american military funding. 10s of billions of dollars almost two years since the russian invasion. that battle for money brought ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy to congress and the white house today for a personal appeal. zelenskyy facing continued skepticism from some congressional republicans, while president biden argued that blocking more aid for ukraine will only play into russia's hands. zelenskyy dismissing suggestions that ukraine might be willing to give up territory that's now occupied by russia. with congress divided on more funding, it was a tough mission today for zelenskyy. it's where we begin tonight with senior white house correspondent gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: tonight, with the war raging and a brutal winter fast approaching, ukrainian president zelenskyy is making an urgent plea to congress and president biden. >> in ukraine, we are fighting for our country and freedom. >> reporter: the u.s. has already sent $111 billion in military and humanitarian aid to ukraine since russia's invasion began. that money is running out. the biden administration has been urging congress to approve a new $106 billion package that includes roughly $60 billion for ukraine, as well as support for israel and money to strengthen the u.s.-mexico border. >> putin is banking on the united states failing to deliver for ukraine. we must, we must, we must prove him wrong. >> reporter: zelenskyy's hastily planned u.s. trip is a dramatic difference from his first wartime visit last year. where he arrived to a hero's welcome. today zelenskyy met with lawmakers behind closed doors. skeptical republicans want to overhaul immigration policies at the u.s. southern border before they sign off on any new money for ukraine. >> our first condition on any national security supplemental spending package is about our own national security first. the border is an absolute catastrophe, and this is because of the policies of this white house and this administration. >> reporter: the house speaker also saying he wants an accounting of u.s. money already sent to ukraine, and that zelenskyy has not provided a clear strategy to win. the war has largely become a stalemate. in recent months, ukraine taking back no major russian held territory. as its latest counteroffensive mostly fizzled. but the white house in newly declassified intelligence says the russian military has suffered more than 13,000 casualties since october. meanwhile, zelenskyy with a sharp rebuke for some republicans calling for peace talks and suggesting ukraine give up territory. >> translator: that's insane, to be honest. i have question to these people if they are ready to give 30 up their children to terrorists. i think no. >> and david, it seems clear that zelenskyy is looking for quick action here. when will congress take all this up? >> lester, it's looking increasingly unlikely that a deal gets done this week before lawmakers head home for the holidays. these talks could drag into january, from the biden administration's stance, could critically hamper the war. lester? >> all right, gabriel gabriel starting us off, thanks. let's bring in keir simmons in moscow. keir, russia clearly watching all this very closely. >> that's right, lester. the kremlin and the biden administration agree on one thing tonight. events in congress are pivotal. kremlin spokesperson deplete try peskov telling reporters today we're following zelenskyy's visit very closely, saying tens of billions of more dollars to ukraine will not, quote, change the battlefield." president putin hoping the tide is confirming, saying he will stand for election next year while trying to project a global image, visiting countries like saudi arabia. meanwhile, jailed opposition leader alexei navalny has disappeared for seven days, not appearing in court via a video link. his supporters say it may not be a coincidence at such a crucial time for the kremlin. lester? >> keir simmons, thank you. now to our new reporting tonight that israel is flooding hamas tunnels, all as president biden had blunt words today rebuking what he calls indiscriminate bombing in gaza. richard engel now with late details. >> reporter: israel is pushing ahead fighting door to door to overthrow hamas. and tonight an u.s. official tells nbc news israel is pumping seawater to flood hamas tunnels in limited areas of gaza, saying it's unclear if it will work. there are assertions being made that there is quite sure there are no hostages any of these tunnels. but i don't know that for a fact. >> reporter: israel's military campaign is now sparking tensions with the white house. president biden speaking earlier at fundraiser today, saying israel is right to take on hamas and has most of the world supporting them. but they're starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing in gaza. and that israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's government has to change. you can't say there is no palestinian state in the future. the administration wants the more moderate palestinian authority to take over post war gaza. but netanyahu is rejecting that, saying overnight "i will not allow the entry into gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism, and finance terrorism." today six aid groups said the humanitarian situation in gaza is in an apocalyptic free fall, writing the war has killed more than 7,500 children, more than all global conflicts last year combined. israelis are still reeling from the october 7th attack when hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 240 hostages. kibbutz be'eri was overrun by hamas at 6:30 a.m. golan, a data manager for a pharmaceutical company, was here as hamas and other militants went house to house, killing and setting fires. >> and then were two terrorists just standing casually over there. no one is fighting them. >> reporter: golan locked his family in a safe room in his house and went outside with his pistol. when you saw they were focusing on your place. >> yes. >> reporter: and they were coming for you, that's when you emptied the magazine? >> yes. i hit them. they were hit. i don't know if i killed anyone. >> reporter: luckily, the attackers moved on and didn't return. his security camera recorded when israeli troops did finally come to the rescue, 16 hours later. does that slow response make you angry? people here angry? >> we were supposed to be protected, and we weren't. >> reporter: the israeli government has acknowledged failures and says it will investigate when the war is over. but many israelis say accuse prime minister netanyahu of refusing to accept responsibility. lester? >> richard engel, thank you. harvard said today its president claudine gay is still the right person to lead the university. harvard's fellows said gay apologized after intense criticism of her response to questions in congress about antisemitism on campus. this comes after the president of the university of pennsylvania liz magill resigned over the weekend following the backlash. new evidence today that inflation is easing up. up 3.1% last month from a year ago, a new sign the fed's campaign of higher interest rates is working. christine romans is here for us. what does all this mean? >> lester, it's more evidence that inflation is cooling without a recession, that so-called soft landing the fed wants. inflation topped 9% a year and a half ago. this is enough progress toward the fed's goal of 2% that it probably is unlikely to raise rates when it meets tomorrow. gas prices a big part of the story, below $3 in 23 states. consumer sentiment beginning to improve as inflation cools, despite some high profile job cut announcements. the job market overall has been resilient. and mortgage rates have been moving lower. but housing costs are still rising. and that's part of what for many leads to at best a mixed view of the economy, lester. >> christine, thanks very much. now to the very long trip home for passengers on a delta airlines flight, forced to make an emergency landing in newfoundland on a trip from amsterdam to detroit. here is miguel almaguer. >> reporter: hours after departing amsterdam and well short of detroit, passengers aboard delta flight 135 suddenly learned a mechanical issue was forcing their plane to make an emergency landing, and they were headed to a remote military base in canada. the 270 passengers touching down sunday in frigid goose bay. >> we put down, and then i was like where the hell are we, you know? >> reporter: shika joshi who was flying with her 4-year-old son said more than seven hours later, a second plane arrived with a new crew, but then those pilots were out of allotted flight hours. >> we were all kind of anxious. when we asked the cabin crew for information, nobody had the right information. >> reporter: seemingly stuck, canadian customs took passengers to a bare bone military barracks. given two hours of sleep, some food and water, passengers then loaded back on to a plane, finally headed for detroit. >> it was horrible. i mean, i had a good cry over it, i'm not going cry. lie. >> reporter: blaming a combination of problems, delta said during the fiasco, "we apologize to customers for this inconvenience as we continue to make them comfortable." a memorable flight that many are trying to forget. miguel almaguer, nbc news. let's turn now to rising anxieties over a new arms race in space. courtney kube has rare access inside an alabama facility on the front lines guarding the u.s. against threats from china in orbit. >> reporter: growing tensions between the u.s. and china now extending to hundreds of miles above the earth. >> we know when we're threatened. we need to be able to counter threat. >> reporter: to get an inside look at some of the latest american technology to counter chinese threat, we went to united launch alliance's factory in alabama, working on defenses against things like chinese satellites that can use robotic arms to drag other satellites out of orbit, meaning china could disable critical american communication satellites. >> they were actually able to grab ahold of one of their defunct gps or data satellites. >> reporter: what is the concern about them having that kind of capability in space? >> nation can interact anything that can interact with a spacecraft for servicing is inherently capable of interacting with a spacecraft to harm it or to gather intelligence from it. >> reporter: and fears tonight that china is moving faster than the u.s. in this new space race, including not just in space, but the skies just above us. not only using satellites, but spy balloons and hypersonic missiles. when you look at the threat from china in space right now, what concerns you the most? >> we seem to be asleep at the switch. >> reporter: dean chang is an expert on china's space program, which has more than doubled in the past five years. do you think that china militarily is ahead of the u.s. in space? >> i think the chinese, one, are giving us a real good run for the money. >> reporter: he says another potential chinese threat to the u.s. from space includes a cyber attack that allows china to remotely take control of an american satellite. >> you can say to the satellite deorbit. it comes crashing down. there goes a billion dollar payload crashing into the pacific. >> reporter: or disrupt american missile defense systems. >> the really scary one, of course, is if you could spoof missile early warning systems so they don't report a missile launch. that's the ultimate nightmare. >> reporter: u.s. officials tell nbc news china can already do both. and china successfully launched its own refueler a few months ago which enables china to keep its satellites in orbit longer. meantime, the u.s. may still be months away from the same technology. and multiple u.s. military officials tell us perhaps most concerning, china launched a hypersonic missile capable of orbiting the globe over and over, and then suddenly dropping to earth before most missile defense systems can respond. >> we continue to look at that very closely. that's a capability they just recently demonstrated. >> reporter: a possible defense, lasers. >> you can't outmaneuver a speed of light laser. >> courtney, some pretty disturbing scenarios laid out there. another sign of the state of relations with china, we've learned the military hotline that president biden touted nearly a month ago is still not up and running. >> yeah, lester, despite the agreement between president biden and president xi to restore military communications, u.s. officials say they are trying to set up the lines, but the chinese have not been responsive. lester? >> courtney kube, thanks. in 60 seconds, the new move from apple to protect your iphone data from thieves. we'll tell you about the major security update with the reporter who exposed the serious concern. ♪everything i do that's for my health is an accomplishment.♪ ♪concerns of getting screened faded away♪ ♪to my astonishment.♪ ♪my doc gave me a script i got it done without a delay.♪ ♪i screened with cologuard and did it my way.♪ cologuard is a one-of-a-kind way to screen for colon cancer that's effective and non-invasive. it's for people 45 plus at average risk, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider for cologuard. ♪i did it my way!♪ test test. test test. we are back with we are back with the new security features just announced by apple to protect your iphone's data if thieves get their hands on it. nbc news tech contributor and "wall street journal" columnist joanna stern has been reporting on the issue for over a year. joanna, there have been calls for this for a long time. >> lester, the stakes couldn't be higher when it comes to your personal information. i've heard from hundreds of victims, thieves with their phone and passcode have been able to steal money, access passwords, and lock people out of their own photos. apple is now testing what it calls stolen device protection. and with it location is key. to make changes to certain segments when your phone isn't in a familiar location like your home or workplace, it will require your face id to access saved pass words, an hour-long security delay before it will change settings like your apple id password, and then it will require another face or touch id confirmation. >> and does this happen automatically or you have to initiate it? >> this is something you the opt into. users will have to get this when it becomes widely available. and it won't protect against everything. the most important thing is to make sure you keep that passcode private. >> all right, joanna, thanks. >> thank you. coming up, a new crackdown on hidden fees charged by car dealerships. our exclusive reporting, next. i brought in ensure max protein with 30 grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. -ahh, -here, i'll take that. woo hoo! ensure max protein 30 grams protein, one gram sugar, 25 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients for immune health. 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(♪♪) (♪♪) (♪♪) get exclusive offers on select new volvo models. contact your volvo retailer to learn more. >> if you've bought a car recently, you may have been surprised by some of the fees dealers charge on top of the sticker price. they're known as junk fees. and now the federal government is cracking down. tom costello now with our exclusive report. >> reporter: it's a common complaint. just when you're about to sign for that new car, it suddenly costs hundreds, even thousands of dollars more. stacey lupul says it happened to her while buying a car for her son. >> somewhere between us signing on the computer and us waiting in the lobby and having the papers printed out, they added that $4,000. >> reporter: $4,000 for an extended warranty she specifically said she didn't want. >> i asked the questions and i was lied to. >> reporter: the federal trade commission says it receives 100,000 similar bait and switch complaints each year. customers charged for unwanted products, services, and hit with so-called junk fees. >> all too often, it's members of the military and active service members that are most targeted by these practices. >> reporter: to target the scams, the ftc has a new cars rule requiring dealers to provide a vehicle's actual price and cost, spelling out optional add-ones, and prohibiting dealers from adding bogus add-ones like duplicate warranties, oil changes on evs, or unwanted subscriptions. >> this rule is really designed to create some honesty and fair rules of the road so that americans can buy cars without worrying that they're going to be tricked or scammed. >> reporter: the national automobile dealers association says the regulation is heavy-handed bureaucratic overreach and redundancy at its worse that will needlessly lengthen the car sales process by forcing new layers of disclosures. as for stacey lupul -- will you ever go back to that dealership? >> no, never, ever. it's an awful, awful feeling to be taken advantage of like that. >> reporter: the government's new cars rules will take effect in july, potentially saving customers more than $3 billion a year. but as always, buyers should read the fine print. lester? >> all right. tom costello, thanks. up next, the inspiring mission to save a national treasure. the threatened joshua tree. with that amazing camer. i wish my family had them. zoe! you're an action star... take action! join t-mobile and get four new iphone 15 on them, and four lines for $25 bucks a line. with that camera, i'll be sharing pics from the slopes. you do not want to see yourself skiing! hey, i'm good at skiing?... your stuntwoman is. this holiday at t-mobile get four new iphone 15 on us, and four lines of unlimited for $25 bucks a line. what do you think of the jacket? you look like a marshmallow. i know what it's like to perform through pain. if you're like me, one of the millions suffering from pain caused by migraine, nurtec odt may help. it's the only medication that can treat a migraine when it strikes and prevent migraine attacks. treat and prevent, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. relief is possible. talk to a doctor about nurtec odt. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ [bell ringing] and doug says, “you can customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual.” he hits his mark —center stage— and is crushed by a baby grand piano. are you replacing me? with this guy? customize and save with liberty bibberty. he doesn't even have a mustache! oh, look! a bibu. 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