reports," ukraine's president takes his plea for military aid right to washington. zelensky meeting with senators on capitol hill right now. he'll be at the white house this afternoon. what zelenskyy says he needs for the war. plus, it is a busy day for disgraced politicians. rudy giuliani back in court for day two of his defamation trial. how much will he have to pay to election workers? in new york, george santos just walked into court as we hear talk of a plea deal. what could that look like? and the texas supreme court rules against a woman seeking an emergency abortion. what this ruling means for women's healthcare in texas and beyond. thanks so much for joining us on this tuesday. it is 10:00 eastern. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. we begin this morning with a desperate plea from a war time president. right now ukraine's president zelenskyy is in a closed door meeting with senators on capitol hill, making his case for more aid. you see him there arriving earlier. he'll meet with president biden later today in the oval office and then the two leaders will hold a joint news conference. the battle is far from over. ukraine says just in the last 24 hours, there were 89 clashes on the front lines and russia carried out more than two dozen missile and air strikes. joining us now is nbc's ali vitali on capitol hill. monica alba at the white house. keir simmons in moscow. also with us, jim townsend, former deputy assistant secretary for defense for europe and nato under president obama. ali, kick us off. how is zelenskyy being received there on the hill? >> reporter: well, look, the reception that he got when he walked into the room was one of applause. we could hear it from out here in the hallway. zelenskyy entered as you just showed down the hallway right behind me flanked on either side by the top republican mitch mcconnell and the top democrat chuck schumer, a bipartisan show of support walking in, but we know that it is going to be a testy atmosphere inside the room, because of the dynamics going on over the negotiations, both about aid to ukraine as well as aid to israel, and also the situation on the u.s./mexico border, all of this tied tight and parcel to the end of year supplemental that both parties are trying to push through, though that seems very unlikely from our team's conversations with the key negotiators. nevertheless, zelenskyy will be pressing the case to senators himself. some of those senators on the republican side have said this basically forces zelenskyy into a room of people who are not likely to say yes to his request for more funding for his fight against russia, but we do expect at some point in the next few minutes for zelenskyy as well as the two top leaders in the senate to come out and speak at the podium behind me, unclear what he'll have to say, but it may sound like this, what we heard from zelenskyy yesterday. watch. >> let me be frank, with you, france, if there is anyone inspired by unresolved issues on capitol hill, it is just putin and his sick clique. >> so, look, you got zelenskyy warning about the stakes. that's a question i asked him here this morning. he did not respond, but i imagine, ana, this is going to be one of the things he's stressing in the room right now as well as out here to reporters when he ultimately exits that room and continues on with his day, a full slate of meetings here on capitol hill including with the newly minted house speaker mike johnson. this is not zelenskyy's first visit here to washington, or to the capitol. but it is his first time meeting with johnson, who will represent to him the dynamics within the house republican conference which is reluctant to give more aid to ukraine and that has certainly been reflected in the conversations i had on that side of the building as well. >> we'll be watching for his emergence from this closed door meeting. and let's head to the white house, monica. talk to us about what we expect from that visit later today and the message the president wants to convey. >> reporter: well, this was an invitation that was extended by president biden, ana, to president zelenskyy to come here to washington and make this impassioned plea himself, personally to lawmakers. and we know that those are the opinions that really need to shift in order to see any momentum for this potential funding, but the white house is really putting this plainly by declassifying and downgrading some u.s. intelligence that they say shows that russia has actually suffered some critical defeats recently, but that they are the ones, russia, that stand to benefit from a winter deadlock, if ukraine isn't able to get more aid and military support specifically. they're going to put it into that context, and they're going to say that russia really here is in a position that is potentially beatable by ukraine, but they need the u.s. support to continue that to the tune of $60 billion or so. but right now, none of that is guaranteed and the president has stressed that really ukraine just has a couple of weeks left of u.s. support before that runs out. and here is a little bit more of the stakes and what national security counsel spokesman john kirby says the president is willing to do on other topics to secure this funding. >> the president has said, and he'll repeatedly say, that we're willing to make compromises here, that's what negotiations are all about, that's what governing are all about. he does believe in border security. we can't let our support for ukraine lapse as these critical winter months are approaching us. >> reporter: both leaders today at the white house are going to present this as, of course, an urgent matter, but the real stick here and the rub is what is the president willing to potentially compromise on when it comes to making changes to border policy that we're already hearing from some hispanic and latino members in congress, an outcry, and frustration over potential changes to asylum policy, to parole, things that president biden has really come out and spoken against, but that he might need to budge on in order to get this national security request, not just for ukraine, but also for israel across the finish line. ana? >> keir what are the global implications of this meeting and for russia in particular? >> reporter: well, ana, russia is watching what is happening in washington very, very closely. the kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov making that clear today, saying they are looking to see whether the hill agrees to fund further ukraine and they are wondering whether that will not happen, and whether or not there is -- whether there are signs of a change of atmosphere, if you like, in the west that means that things are potentially shifting for russia. being no doubt that it is seen as an absolutely crucial week here in moscow, by the russian government. on thursday, president putin will hold a q&a session with journalists, with the russian people, including a phone-in -- radio phone-in. he hasn't done that for a long time. you ask for the international picture. what we're seeing is president putin attempting, despite the continuing conflict in ukraine, attempting to pivot towards a new role on the world stage. he went to saudi arabia and the united arab emirates in the past few weeks, trying to move past his isolation. i think the question, of course, for president zelenskyy is whether he can persuade the u.s. to continue to help him push russia and to continue to isolate russia. for president putin, the issue here really is that the russian people are wanting to move on now. wanting to move past this. it is coming up to the holidays, the shops here in moscow are busy. the sanctions have not had the impact that the west thought that they would, but can president putinieve that? that i think is in the balance this week. >>so jim, the. has already provided ten of billions inid including humanitarian and financial aid, but the majority has really been the military support, training, equipment, weapons, et cetera, what do you think happens if the u.s. doesn't provide more funding. >> i think the winter could be a bloody one in ukraine, particularly because for sure the russians are going to pick up on their shelling and their firing missiles into ukrainian cities during the winter. they did this last winter, they tried to turn off the electricity. and if there is not enough antiaircraft, antimissile systems and particularly ammunition to ward off and to defeat this onslaught, it is going to be bloody for civilians as well as ukraine military on the front line. >> so, jim, republicans have been resistant to add more funding in part because there doesn't appear to be an end in sight to this war. and republican senator j.d. surveillance is saying they suck cede some of their land and cut a deal with putin. what say you? >> that's unacceptable. at some point there will have to be negotiations, but we're not there yet. and these negotiations are something that is going to be possible after unfortunately a lot of fighting is going to take place. j.d. vance is just echoing trump. it is a political thing that vance is saying. but if you talk to ukraine and talk to our allies in europe, they're not looking at having negotiations. they're working on helping ukraine recover its territory that has been taken, that we can't sit here as the ukraine is fighting for their lives and start talking about giving away land and cutting a deal with russia. it is not only bad for ukraine, it is bad for the west and for the united states to give into russia at this point. we'll only see a more aggressive russia as a result of cutting a deal with him. >> so, why do you think the u.s. sanctions and other western sanctions aren't having the intended affect, jim? >> well, i think what we're seeing actually is a very interesting outcome of years of putting sanctions on nations and really not seeing them do what we thought they would do. sanctions can work in certain aspects, certain situations, but with russia, there i a lot of russian friends, china, iran, others, that will provide a back door for assistance to get into russia, whether it is chips or whether it is commercially procured drones, but russia seems to be able to get what it needs to reconstitute its military as well as to have trade with oil and other kinds of energy to nations like china in return for trading other goods for the consumer back into russia. so, sanctions can work, but it is really a limited situation where they can be really effective. >> jim, u.s. intel officials are telling us that russia seems to believe that a military deadlock through the winter is going to drain western support for ukraine, while ultimately giving russia the advantage despite its losses and shortages of trained personnel, munitions and equipment. but if there is a deadlock, the big question then is what is going to be the tipping point. because if everything that has been going into this war so far is only been able to do so much, what is the tipping point? >> well, frankly, i think we're at a tipping point right now. if the -- if the u.s. is not able to provide assistance on a consistent and sustained basis, where ukraine planners can know what is coming in and how they can reorient their offensive, right now the planners are getting together with the u.s., they're trying to find a new way moving ahead, so there are plans to make sure that this is not a stalemate, that the offensive can continue, but for that to happen there has got to be assistance, it has got to be assistance that ukraine can depend on. if that doesn't happen, then certainly this offensive that ukraine wants to pick back up in the spring and summer, that offensive will probably falter. and we'll find ourselves back into a very bloody attrition battle with the russians, because the russians will use this time to recapitalize themselves in terms ofore weons, more men on the front lines, and dig in deeper. so i think the tipping point frankly is right now. it could go either way and if it is a time of no assistance going into ukraine, the spring and summer will be one of a bloody battle between these two countries and something that will imperil u.s. national security. >> jim townsend, thank you. ali vitali, monica alba, keir simmons, appreciate all of your reporting, we'll keep a close eye on when zelenskyy comes out of his meeting with senators before he heads into other meetings with members of the house, with president biden. appreciate all of you. and when we're back in 60 seconds, a legal limbo. a texas woman at the heart of a major abortion case makes a tough decision. plus, is donald trump immune from prosecution over january 6th? a legal question now facing the supreme court. and now disgraced ex-congressman george santos is back in court this morning. could he be close to striking a plea deal with prosecutors? and attention all late holiday shoppers, we got a new inflation report. does it change your gift giving budget? inflation report does it change your gift giving budget who's winning? we are, my friend. we are. . -amazing -expensive. so, we switched to the bargain detergent, but we ended up using three times as much and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back with tide, and the clothes are clean again. do 3x the laundry and get a tide clean. it's got ♪o be tide. shelves. shelves smart enough to see, sense, react, restock. so caramel swirl is always there for the taking. welcome back. new developments today in the story of a texas woman who went to court seeking an emergency abortion and a medical exemption to the state's near total abortion ban. the texas supreme court reversing the lower court ruling that would have allowed kate cox to end her pregnancy. doctors told cox her baby is unlikely to survive and her future fertility could be in jeopardy should she carry to term. her lawyers say cox has been forced to flee the state to seek an abortion saying she just couldn't wait any longer with her health on the line. nbc's senior legal correspondent laura jarrett joins us now. let's talk about this texas supreme court ruling. why the reversal, what is behind this decision? >> the judge in this case essentially laying out that the medical standard to get an exemption under state law here requires a life threatening physical condition. while kate's case presents risks and complications, their words, the doctor didn't actually assert she has that life threatening illness and she loses this case. now, in response to that, her lawyers put out a statement saying in part here, this ruling should ge every texan to their core. if kate cannot get an abortion in texas, who can? i think they're drilling down on the fact that this is somebody who has been in the emergency room, as you and i have talked about, four times, her situation is quite serious, but because her doctor didn't use the magic language, she cannot get an abortion in the state of texas. though at this point, for kate, it is essentially moot, because she has gone elsewhere. >> so, wait, is it clear now what that magic language is? >> i think it actually remains to be seen. this is an issue as they point out, actually still up on appeal in the state of texas in a whole different set of cases. we covered 20 plus women who said they too had medical complications. they were no longer pregnant, but they had challenged the constitutionality of these medical exemptions and the state of texas is still evaluating that. i think this is a live issue, but, again, in kate's case, we have reached the end of the road, but they made crystal clear here how high the bar is for women going forward. >> laura jarrett, thank you so much. >> sure. up next, on "ana cabrera reports," while george santos makes jokes about stealing an interviewer's designer berken bag, he may not be laughing in court today. what we're learning about a possible plea deal. plus, the latest from a d.c. courtroom where rudy giuliani's defamation case is heating up. c defamation case is heating up. year, after year, after year. gift the iphone 15 pro with titanium. boost infinite. why give your family just ordinary eggs when they can enjoy the best? 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[man struggles] ...you should check out inspire. no mask. no hose. just sleep. learn more and view important safety information at inspiresleep.com hi. i use febreze fade defy plug. and i use this. febreze has a microchip to control scent release so it smells first-day fresh for 50 days. 50 days!? and its refill reminder light means i'll never miss a day of freshness. ♪ we're back with some breaking news. the criminal case against disgraced congressman george santos back before a court in new york right now. you can see here he is in court today. this was him walking into that federal courthouse earlier. santos, who was just expelled from congress, faces multiple counts of wire fraud, identity theft, making false statements among others. but we just learned that santos is engaged in plea negotiations with federal prosecutors. let's go to nbc's rehema ellis joining us from the courthouse in long island. what could we learn about potential plea deal negotiations? >> reporter: well, we might learn more about how the government is engaged in these conversations and negotiations with george santos. as you pointed out, he wentnto the courthouse just at the top of the hour, and he has pled not guilty to all of these counts. there are some 23 counts against him of which you mentioned some of them, the wire fraud, the money laundering, identity theft, making false statements to congress, and now he would like to, it seems, avoid a trial. apparently the government is willing to do that as well because as i say, this was a prescheduled hearing that was supposed to take place. but last night we learned that the government said that they were going to inform the court today that they're engaged in negotiations for a plea deal that would avoid a trial altogether, which is scheduled to begin in september. the government would like to do begin as early as next spring. we'll see what happens. court gets under way in just a few minutes. i'm going to go inside, right after this, to find out exactly what they say about all of this, and report on it on the other side to you, ana. >> keep us posted. thank you, rehema ellis. let's go right to capitol hill right now, president zelenskyy left his meeting with senators. here is senator schumer. >> he needs the aid quickly. if we don't give the aid quickly, several things will happen. first, the military needs, but second, europe and many other allies will say what is going on here, they're not giving them the aid. thank you. >> we missed the top there, but i want to bring in ali vitali, who can fill us in. what else did we hear from senator schumer, what more can you tell us about his meeting with senators and what's next? >> reporter