dana. thanks so much for joining us. ac 360 starts now. tonight on "360" with ukraine's president in washington seeking more aid and congressional republicans resisting, president biden now says the u.s. will support ukraine for as long as it can instead of as long as it takes. also tonight harrowing testimony from a georgia election workering about what the lies rudy giuliani told about her and her mom did to their live. that and a warning a judge gave him about continuing to spread misinformation. and later the newest example of how cnn's exclusive reporting on sexual misconduct in the coast guard is getting results this time on capitol hill. good evening. thanks for joining us. we begin tonight with ukraine's war to drive russian forces out at a stalemate and efforts in washington to fund that war apparently at a standstill. tonight no sign yet that president volodymyr zelenskyy's meetings today with president biden and top lawmakers have done anything to break that logjam. house republicans are still demanding large scale concessions on migration from mexico before agreeing to any new aid from ukraine. and a number of them say they oppose it regardless. over on the senate side republican leader mitch mcconnell who does favor more ukraine funding said it would be, quote, practically impossible to pass a funding measure before christmas even the two sides reach an agreement. president biden said he was hopeful of the chances of that happening, but that was one of several messages happening today. he also signaled the limits of what washington may be able to deliver, the difference what between what it take and when it can. and also warns republicans against giving vladimir putin what he calls, quote, the greatest christmas gift they could possibly give him. and the president reminding the russian media is already gloating about aid staff standoff and now gop opposition benefits them. >> the host of a kremlin run show literally said and i quote, well-done, republicans, that's good for us, end of quote. let me say that again. this host of a kremlin-run show said well-done, republicans, that's good for us. that's a russian speaking. if you're being celebrated by russian propagandists, it might be time to rethink what you're doing. >> whatever they do or don't do, time is running out. congress breaks for the holidays on friday. cnn's m.j. lee starts off our coverage from the white house. the president has long said the u.s. is ready to support ukraine for as long as it takes. was that still his message today? because it didn't sound like it. >> reporter: yeah, anderson, for as long as it as takes is the refrain we've long heard from president biden when it comes to ukraine, but we heard something a little bit different from the president tonight. he said the u.s. will continue to supply ukraine with the supplies and the equipment it that it needs for as long as we can. this is hareally subtle difference. what i think just goes to capture the immense challenges that the biden administration is now facing as it tries to continue showing its steadfast support for ukraine including by approving the supplemental package that includes some $60 billion of additional funding for ukraine. you know, evnl after president zelenskyy went to capitol hill personally to try to make this appeal to lawmakers, it didn't seem like he was successful in swaying any of the members who are not convinced this is the right road to take. i think this is a visit that has all in all sort of highlighted the very different place that the u.s. is in and congress certainly is in compare today the last time that president zelenskyy came here to the whougswhite house a year ago when he really received a heroes welcome. he was allowed to make a speech to congress and got bipartisan and overwhelming other for the ukrainian cause, anderson. >> it's interesting to hear president biden driving home how closely russia is watching the u.s. right now. >> that's right. you know, in so many ways i think president biden's speech was actually aimed squarely at vladimir putin. he said right off the top of his remarks that putin is banking on the u.s. to fail in its efforts to support ukraine and that we must prove him wrong, is what president biden said. and some of the sound you just played is so remarkable because the president was basically saying that the issues we are seeing, the fights that we are seeing over this funding for ukraine, taking place on capitol hill, this isn't just domestic policy and political he said that the kremlin is watching, vladimir putin is watching. he said if you're being celebrated by russian propagandists, it might be time to rethink what you are doing. there was also another overarching message not just it's russia watching but other would-be aggressors. and the president saying this is going to send a message to what other would-be bad actors could be able to do in taking forcibly lands and territories from other democracies, and that is why this is such an existential fight we're talking about, according to the president. >> m.j. lee at the white house, thank you. today's visit by zelenskyy came on a day we got an indication really the price russia has paid for invading ukraine in human lives. a source familiar with that assessment telling cnn it says russia has now lost 87% of the active duty ground troops that it had prior to the invasion. 87% killed or wounded since the war began. now, that says -- said and it's frankly staggering to even imagine ukrainian forces are paying a terrible price as well. cnn's anna coren recently spoke with some of them about how vital western aid has been and what many of them fear would happen when it dries up. >> with the modern weapons and the western weapons of course they're more accurate and they bring let's say more damage to -- to the enemy. i'm afraid ukraine will not be able to stand without our partners and allies. as simple as that. if we let ukraine go, if we let pulet putin win, then who will feel themselves safe here? i think no one. >> we're joined now by cnn's nick paten walsh in ukraine. president zelenskyy said his goal for 2024 is quote, take away russian superiority and disrupt its defensive operations. what are you seeing and hearing about whether he can do that without more u.s. aid? >> reporter: yeah, without f-16s i think it's a very long shot they can reverse the problem they faced in the last counter offensive this summer, which is the air superiority. they simply could not conduct the pace of warfare nato had train them to do, nato expected them to pull off. president volodymyr zelenskyy unless something pops out of his hat later this week has laid his cards down, met congressional leaders, met president biden and not come up with the money that is deeply needed by his front line troops here. we've seen in the past days a real sense of concern, anger, frustration amongst troops really it's going to be tough to continue this defense, let alone try to take back the territory without the billions they've been accustomed to receiving or been announced every other week or so. zelenskyy comes back, too, to a country deeply anxious about the winter. civilian areas pounded relentlessly day and night, almost like two armies duking it out inside the town even though the russians are across the other side of the river. he also comes back, too, to a nation that had experienced cell disruption throughout today. likely ukraine security services say because of a russian cyber attack. that's impacted air-raid sirens here, the air-raid alert apps you get on your phone. even here in this town they've had to turn the streetlights off manually. so a lot of disruption there, and to a political climate, the creasingly intense for zelenskyy as well. his defense minister joked about how his chief of staff here run the counter oftsive had indeed been fire. a joke indeed but a sign of tension between the president and the man who runs the operations here. it's going to difficult this winter regardless of whether not the money suddenly comes out of nowhere wch we've some had suggesting doctors may not get their salaries as aurally as january. as you say this is exactly what vladimir putin has been waiting for. western resolve, western unity remarkably coherent for the past nearly two years on this issue. beginning to crumble, beginning to tie up the existential issue whether ukraine could defend itself from russia. a lot of nato allies in the u.s. desperately need them to do the fight for them here. many ukrainians deeply worried they're beginning to see a winter of infrastructure attacks and vladimir putin emboldened thinking finally he's out waited the west. >> nick paten walsh. now more on the resistance cnn's manu raju at the capitol for us tonight. what was the response from republicans in congress to the visit? was he able to move the needle at all? >> reporter: no, really he wasn't, anderson. even among the staunch supporters of ukraine aid, chief among them the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell, still in the same position they were as they headed into this meeting. that there needs to be a deal over new policies dealing with the u.s. border with mexico and the influx of migrants coming across the southern border. they want a significant amount of changes whether it's dealing with asylum reform or changing how the president grants parole to migrants coming across the barrier, putting new in new physical barriers and the like, issues that have wildly divided the two parties for years and years and years. but they say that can be dealt with first before they can green light aid to ukraine, which is why there are real fears about the pres pects given the divisions that continue to persist all the issue. despite those pleas, anderson, they said immigration must come first. >> for more on what happens if american aid dries up we're joined by retired lieutenant general mark hurtling. can you walk us through what it looks like if the flow of weapons from the u.s. slows or is shot off completely? >> yeah, there's a couple things to talk about, anderson. the first, what your previous reporters have all addressed, and that is i think i was sitting with you on the 22nd of february in studio when i one of putin's strategic goals was to further divide a divided united states and a divided nato. i think president biden is absolutely correct. putin is receiving a gift right now from a strategic perspective. from a tactical perspective, all battles, all wars have inflection points. ukraine is at one of those inflection points right now. they cannot afford any disruption in their logistic supply chain. any kind of delay including draw down authority, more equipment, more support, and even the appearance of less support as mr. putin is seeing right now is critically important to ukraine because they can't keep the fight going as nick paten walsh said. the other thing that's important is we are entering a new season. this is the winter fighting season. ukraine has been so far successful operationally on the battlefield. they have gained more ground in their counter offensive. they certainly haven't gained everything they wanted to, but they have gained some. and what you're seeing now is the potential for them to go into a hasty defense situation and continue to strike long-range russian ammo cashes, fuel depots, troop movements, which they can do with our help. if we take away the ammunition while at the same time russia is being supplied with drones and artillery from places like iran and north korea, the fight will become uneven. and again as m.j. lee said, this is an existential threat for ukraine. they have to have a continuation of logistics in this fight. >> what can ukrainians do right now to prepare for -- i mean, will russia be able to go on the offensive? >> well, they've been trying to do that the last several weeks. we've heard a little bit about that. they have not been successful. russia has attempted to maneuver some of their new recruits into areas where they think they can be more successful. so far ukraine has fought back and defended extremely well in the winter campaign, but they can't do that forever. especially if their ammunition supplies are divideling. europe is continuing to try to bolster the efforts, but kr truthfully nato and the united states have learned a lesson that the supply systemvise to be more robust than therapy at the start of this campaign. that's something we've all taken away because what we saw as a peace dividend in the 1990s with russia is suddenly exactly the opposite what russia is doing today. they are executing warfare and especially new nato members like romania or the baltics or croatia are very concerned about a newly emboldened russia expanding beyond their territory. and putin in fact has even said that. >> general hurtling, i appreciate it. coming up next rudy giuliani confronted in court on his falsehoods and a warning a judge gave him about repeating them, which he did yesterday. also with the former president claiming he's eimmune from criminal proceedings someone a part of the story the last time they were asked to decide that john dean. his take on all of that when we continue. when we left you last night rudy giuliani just doubled down on false allegations about the mother and daughter of the 2020 election workers whose lives he has already up ended, false allegations he's already been found liable for in federal court. that's on day one of the penalty phase of his civil trial ended. day two ended in testimony from one of the women he defame asked a warning to him from the judge. cnn's brian todd has more. >> reporter: powerful evidence in the defamation case against former trump attorney rudy giuliani. the jury hearing threatening voice mails sent to two former georgia election workers. >> we're going to burn your store down. >> reporter: also powerful testimony from one former election worker shaye mauze about how rudy giuliani's conspiracy theories devastated her life after the 2020 election. moss telling a federal court giuliani's crazy lies about her and her mother spread everywhere at the time and led to threats against her family. quote, i'm more scared of my family finding me or my son hanging out on a tree or having to get news his mama was killed. rudy giuliani inexplicably doubled down on the lies. >> everything i said about them is true. >> do you regret what you did to -- >> of course i don't regret. i told the truth. they were engaged in changing votes. >> reporter: there is no proof of that, and the judge in the civil defamation case against giuliani rebuked the former new york mayor saying his wrosh quote, negative defamatory statements about the two women could support another defamation claim. >> rudy giuliani should know this is not going to help his cause. it is going to deepen the hole he is in, and yet he keeps digging. >> reporter: the judge has already ruled in this case that giuliani spread false information about moss and freeman in the wake of the 2020 election. giuliani has conceded he did make detam foyer statements about them, but he's argued the statements didn't cause them any damage even statements like one he made to the georgia state legislature telling them moss and freeman were corrupting the vote count. >> they're surreptitiously passing around u.s. as if they're heroine and cocaine. >> reporter: they told the house january 6th committee about. >> i don't want anyone knowing my name. i don't go to the grocery store at all. i haven't been anywhere at all. >> these are public servants, and he's essentially put them out there and caused them to be targeted by hateful people, by people who are seeking to do them harm. and he's really upended their lives. >> reporter: rudy giuliani already owes shaye moss and ruby freeman more than $230,000 for failing to respond to parts of their lawsuit. a few months ago in a court filing giuliani said he's essentially broke because of all of his legal costs so a judgment against him in this case would put him even further in debt. >> from civil to criminal court now. there's the fallout from special counsel jack smith's push to get the former president's claim of immunity in the january 6th case on a fast track to the supreme court. as we discussed last night this could be a decision that ranks among the most consequential for the high court. perhaps the closest the court came was in 197 # with u.s. v. nixon which compelled president nixon to turn over those watergate tapes. i'll get perspective with john dean and former white house counsel. john, in terms of any significance does any prior supreme court case compared today the immunity ruling that smith is seeking in the trump case? >> no. it is a -- it is a pinnacle. >> i mean, in u.s. v. nixon the question was whether a president has executive privilege in a subpoena fight, not necessarily immunity from the criminal trial, so is there actual precedent from the nixon case that could or should apply to the trump case? >> you know, there's a little bit of language in what they call the dicta, the sort of just remarks of what indicated the court then thought a president had criminal exposure. but it's never been spelled out, never been fully addressed, never been fully briefed. >> during watergate woodward and bernstein they wrote about the decision to appeal to the supreme court saying, quote, it was risky, very, very risky. suppose the justice said no, suppose it was an angry no, suppose it was a surcastic reminder to juwarsky. do yo you see any potential down sides to jack smith's gambit? >> i don't. i think he is one step ahead. i think he's got a stronger case than nixon had, for example, with the tapes. and certainly that trump has in this case for total immunity. >> given the dispute over immunity to say nothing of the ongoing dispute over judge chutkan's gag order do you think there's any way in which trump's federal election subversion trial starts on time in early march? >> it's got a shot now. we'll see what the high court does in taking this on and how long it takes them to deliberate. in the nixon case they did it from start to finish, anderson, in 61 days. >> and given the make-up of the court, how do you think they'd rule if they took the case? >> well, that's harder to tell. you know, if conservatives are being true conservatives, they're not going to say that a president, any president is above the law. so once they take that case on, if they take it on, i think they will, they're going to go the distance and find my immunity for a president. >> john dean, thanks for your time. >> thank you. just ahead as intense fighting in gaza continues, you've got two breaking new stories on the ground there involving israel new attempt to go after hamas underground and also the fraying relationship between president biden and prime minister netanyahu. we'll haveve detetails on bobote stories ahahead. 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. two breaking news stories involving israel's ground operations in gaza. a u.s. official tells cnn israel has informed the u.s. it's begun flooding some tunnels in gaza under seawater in, quote, limited basis. but and these are his words, quote, i don't know that for a fact. also breaking tonight the rift between spilled into public today. he also criticized netten anyah conservative government. we want to begin with the tunnels and alex marquardt in tel av